Mistakes

Heartbreak and Sorrow

Life was tough, but Leo was managing as well as he could. He spent his time working 7 days a week at this repair shop two blocks away from his cheap, worn down apartment, which thankfully meant he could walk to work every day instead of buying a car and having to pay for gas. He was exhausted, but he didn’t mind as long as his day always ended with tucking Sammy in his crib at night.

 The repair shop that he worked at was a family business. His boss understood his struggles since his wife and he had their first son at 16 like Leo. His wife offered to watch Sammy with no extra charge until he had some money saved up. Leo was eternally grateful for the Washes and the Washes were eternally grateful for Leo because he was the best mechanic they had.

But working in the repair shop brought back painful memories from his time with Calypso. The memories of them trying to open up a repair shop together when Leo came back and saved her, and of course the Fates were laughing as he remembered all the things he said he was going to do- the things that would never happen.

While working there brought back painful memories of Calypso, it always brought back comforting memories of his mother. The times they would spend together, Leo’s mom working and Leo just watching her doing the things she did, it would always amaze Leo. He told himself when he was little that he wanted to be just like his mother when he grew up. As it turns out, that’s what he will be doing: working in a repair shop his entire life. But his mother said as long you’re happy, mijo, then I don’t care what you do.

Leo enjoyed working not only because it’s what he did best thanks to his dad, but also because working with tools and machinery helped him clear his head and not think about his friends (who were, no doubt, looking for him still). Leo truly did miss them; at night he was plagued with nightmares of when they fought Gaea together. Slowly his nightmares turned into dreams of Piper and Jason dying slow and painful deaths by Calypso’s hand because he had ‘ruined’ the titan’s life. Then the nightmares got worse. He dreamed Calypso had moved on from torturing and murdering Piper and Jason every night to kidnapping and killing Sammy.

Leo didn’t sleep much anymore.

Leo couldn’t have been more grateful for his wonderful boss. He understood what Leo was going through and offered as much support as he could. Leo felt like he had a dad for the first time in a very long time, since a god could only be so much of a good parent.

“Valdez, you need a break. I'm giving you 3 days, leave Sammy, and go somewhere. Please just relax. You can’t help Sammy if you are exhausted and dying,” his boss had told him a few days ago. Despite Leo’s attempts to protest, here Leo was standing on top of the hill overlooking the one place he promised himself he would never come back to.

Camp Half Blood.

Camp Half Blood brought far too many memories of their quest to defeat Gaea, which always led him back to that unfortunate day that he just so happened to land on Calypso’s stupid island. He loved her and would always love her, no matter how badly it hurt.

Leo ran his hand across the leaves of the pine tree marking the barrier of camp. Peleus the dragon looked at him suspiciously, but then fell back asleep, wrapped around the tree. Leo breathed in the smells he had grown so accustomed to over the recent years. The sound of swords clanging on swords, the song of children being happy and having fun in the one place where they felt like they belong. Leo couldn’t help but hear himself in the sounds and smells of camp.

It was actually fairly simple for Leo to get avoided by the campers, a thing he was actually quite afraid of. He was Leo Valdez after all, a member of the Seven. Leo simply put on a hooded black cloak and walked with his head down to the big house. His plan was going great until he just had to bump into someone.

“Ah!” The figure shouted, annoyed. Leo tensed up quickly; it was just his luck to run into Piper so quickly he hadn’t even figured out what he was going to say to her and Jason yet.

Leo muttered a curse under his breath and attempted to leave by going around Piper, but Piper was stubborn, which Leo cursed himself for forgetting so quickly.

“Hey, where do you think you are going dressed like that in a camp full of children?” Piper asked, grabbing the back of Leo’s hoodie.

Leo sighed as a million thoughts ran through his head at the same time. He took a deep breath and turned around quickly, the hood falling off his head as he turned. His heart broke as he saw Piper instantly recognize him and beginning to tear up. Leo knew he wasn’t going to stay. He couldn’t. He had to take care of Sammy, and Sammy, his perfect, innocent, pure son did not deserve this life.

“Leo,” Piper’s voice quivered as she pulled her best friend into a hug. She stepped back to take a good look at Leo before punching him hard on the arm, which Leo decided didn’t actually hurt that bad. He had really toughened up these past few months. “Where in Hades have you been?” Piper exclaimed angrily.

Leo looked down, avoiding her eye contact. “You need to stop trying to find me Piper,” He continued to look at the ground, not wanting to see her reaction. He didn’t need that heart break. 

“Stop looking?” Piper’s voice was rising quite quickly. Her hands were balled into fists; she looked as though she could kill a thousand monsters by herself at that moment. “Leo Valdez, I am your friend! We are worried about you! You just disappear one day, show up 6 months later and tell me to stop looking for you!” Piper burst into tears. “Leo, I miss you.”

Leo gulped. He felt his heart break even more than it already had, and figuring he couldn’t suffer any more pain, looked up and stared into her eyes. “Piper McLean, I am so glad to have called you my friend. But things happen and we need to go our separate ways. Tell Jason and the rest of Seven that I am glad to have worked with them. It was nice knowing you, Piper,” Leo spoke firmly, pushing back any tears that were threatening to overflow. To top off his horrid statement, Leo stuck out his hand, waiting for Piper to shake. Piper just stared at him in shock.

“So that’s it? You say goodbye and we never see you again?” Piper shouted at him. Tears were streaming down her face, smearing the very little make up she wore. Leo dropped his hand.

“Goodbye Piper. Tell Jason that he was the closest friend I had ever had.  Tell Percy to never let Annabeth leave him. Tell Annabeth to design a building after me, maybe one day I'll visit it.  Tell Hazel that I will always remember her and her past, and tell Frank that I am so glad to have gotten to know him. We may have had our differences, but I’m so glad we got to be friends,” Leo stated, holding back tears. “And Piper, always remember that you will always have a special place in my heart. I will never forget you. Name baby Grace after me will you?”

Leo didn’t wait for an answer; he didn’t wait for a reaction. He had suffered enough heart breaks. He just turned around and began to walk away.

“Leo Valdez, the boy on fire. I will never forget you, repair boy, ever,” Piper called out after the retreating figure of Leo Valdez.

 Leo stopped and turned around, not bothering to hide the tears that were falling down his face. These people were his family.

“I know.”

And with that Leo turned and walked away, never looking back.