embers (leo valdez x reader)

5. a plan

You stood with Leo at the entrance of camp, waiting for Percy.

"By the way," you said nervously. "If my brother and my mom are weird, just ignore them. Please."

Leo smiled. "What do you mean?"

Percy's car pulled up. He got out.

"Hey," he said. "Uh, why's Leo here?"

"We're having a sleepover," you told him. "Duh."

Percy blinked. "Maybe Mom was right."

"Shut up," you told him. "Let's just go."

You all got in the car, you and Leo sitting in the back seat together.

Percy raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"Do you think Mom will make us cookies, Perce?" you asked.

Percy shrugged. "Probably. Mom will be so happy to see you have a boyf-"

You smacked Percy as hard as you could. It didn't hurt him. He laughed.

You looked over at Leo. "I'm sorry for him. He's a weirdo."

Leo smiled softly.

Soon, you got back to your house. You ran through the door before anyone else could.

"Mom," you said. Sally looked up.

"Leo's having a sleepover, don't make it weird."

As if on cue, Sally and Percy walked through the door.

Sally stood up. "You two can stay in the living room, or you can go to your room, but keep the door open."

She walked into the kitchen. Percy followed her. They probably went to go gossip.

You smiled nervously at Leo. "I've never had a sleepover before, so..."

Leo laughed. "Me neither. Not really."

You sat on the couch. "Uh, welcome to my humble abode, then, mon ami."

He sat down beside you. "Cool. Thanks."

You grinned. "Wanna do some fun sleepover stuff? We can do face masks."

You ran to your room and returned with one. You opened the jar and sat back down.

You dipped your fingers in it. Leo eyed your fingers.

"I'm gonna touch your face now," you told him. "Don't jerk away from me. Don't make it weird, like the rest of this house."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "Huh?"

You started applying the face mask. "Nothing. My family, they're just... family."

Leo smiled a little.

"So, this girl Calypso broke your heart, huh?" you muttered.

"Yeah?" Leo said. "That's the exact reason we're doing this?"

"Girls come and go," you said. "Friends are forev-- sorry, am I doing this right? The whole wise friend thing? I've only seen it in movies and I don't feel like I'm doing very good."

"Oh, you're awful at it," Leo chuckled. "But I still love it. Keep the cheesy phrases coming."

"Okay, uh," you thought deeply. "Think of it this way, you're one heartbreak closer to happily ever after."

"That's Wizards of Waverly Place," Leo said, trying to remain expressionless while you finished putting his face mask on.

"I know," you replied, wiping off your fingers. "I couldn't think of anything else. You know, you could find a new girlfriend."

He snorted. "Yeah, like any girl would be interested."

"I just got through saying at camp that plenty would," you told him. You placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're someone's dream boy."

"I don't know," Leo said.

"I swear," you said. "There's some girl out there, wishing for a scrawny prince charming to sweep her off her feet."

"You watch too much Disney."

"I'm serious! There's someone out there for everyone," you told him. "I believe that."

Leo sat quietly. "Do you believe there's someone out there for you?"

You pursed your lips. "Yeah. I do. Somewhere out there."

He smiled. "You're pretty optimistic, huh?"

You shrugged. "Someone oughta be, in the world we're living in."

"You're right," Leo said. "I'm done with her."

"That's right!"

"She's dead to me."

"Yeah!"

"Time to move on."

"Great idea!"

Five minutes later, Sally brought you ice cream and Leo was crying.

"I want her back," he cried softly. "We were supposed to open a machine shop together."

You patted his back. "Let it out."

"I got her off her island, and this is how she thanks me? By dumping me?" he sobbed. "Was she using me the whole time?"

"Want me to fight her?" you asked softly. "I bet I could take her."

You thought about the -2 muscles you had.

"Or I could ask Annabeth," you suggested, rubbing his back.

"No," Leo said. "I just want her back."

You thought up an idea. "Wait, do you think she'd be jealous, say if she found you flirting with another girl?"

Leo shrugged. "Probably. Nobody likes that."

"Why don't you flirt with a super cool mortal right in front of her?" you asked him.

He looked up and smiled.

"A plan. Now you're speaking my language."

The two of you took the rest of the night to discuss details.