Scars - A PJO/HOO Soulmates AU

19.

Hiiiiii! I want to thank all of you guys for reading my story, I'm really grateful!!

Chapter 18 - Garden Soil Heals Emotional Wounds

Leo couldn't have thought his life could be any crazier. At least, until he got his soulmate tattoo.

The problem was, Leo fell in love with almost every pretty girl he saw. Like, when he first met Thalia through Annabeth and Piper, he thought they were meant to be. And then he found out that Thalia's soulmate was dead. Then, the same thing happened with Reyna. The feelings went away soon enough, but it still hurt that he didn't even have a soulmate. When he met Annabeth, he was way too scared to try anything, in fear she would judo flip him, or punch him all the way to Mexico.

And then he met Calypso two weeks ago. By accident, obviously, but a miraculous accident. Even though he almost gave her a concussion with his hammer.

With other girls, Leo felt attracted to their looks and the fact that they were way out of his league. But it was different with Calypso, sure she was beautiful and also out of his league, but he felt a strong urge to protect her from other boys and felt a flare of jealousy when he saw other boys staring at her. It was a new feeling, and it scared Leo a lot.

So when the first thing Leo saw in the morning while he was stretching in the bathroom was a pair of tattoos on his left wrist, he couldn't help but shriek.

Leo tried running out of the bathroom but ended up slipping on a towel and landing face-first into the carpet.

"Ow," Leo groaned as he sat himself up on his elbows and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his nose.

Then, excitement overcame the shock, and he jumped up faster than you could say "soulmate" and literally flew down the stairs and into the kitchen. Hephaestus was sitting at the kitchen table and working intently on a blueprint. When Leo came and sat across from him, his dad pushed a plate of pancakes towards him, barely looking up.

"Hey dad, guess what?" Leo said with his mouth full of pancakes.

"Don't talk while your eating son," Hephaestus grumbled, "What is it?"

Leo swallowed his food and continued, "I got my soulmate tattoos."

Hephaestus's head snapped up in surprise, "Really?"

Leo nodded and rolled his sleeve up a little bit to show the pair of tattoos inlaid on his wrist. A basket that was full of flowers and a gardening shovel. They weren't all that vague, all Leo had to do was stand on top of the table at lunch and ask (read: yell) if anyone likes gardening.

Hephaestus clapped, "By the gods Leo, this is great! You've always wanted a soulmate, haven't you? I bet all my worth that it's that Calipio girl next door."

Leo's face turned red from embarrassment, "It's Calypso, dad! And how would you know if she likes gardening?"

Hephaestus snorted, "Because I have eyes, boy. Every morning, while you're still sleeping in, she's out in her front garden watering the plants and tending to the flowers."

Leo rolled his eyes, "Maybe that's another girl you're seeing. I doubt Calypso is my soulmate, and she probably doesn't even like gardening."

~~~~~~~~~~

Turns out Leo was wrong, and Calypso did like working with plants and getting dirty.

He decided to go on a walk because the weather was so nice today, and he liked the smell of fresh air and the crunch of leaves beneath his feet and-