Chapter Text
~Jason ~
• I decided to eat my breakfast at a gas station, Leo had begged me to go to a 7/11 with him so I decided to finally agreed. He cheered, pulling me along with him . When we arrived, Piper was already there, chatting with her girlfriend, Shel. I waved but she didn't notice us, at least not until Leo called her "Sup Pipes. How's the girlfriend ?" She smiled and Shel rolled her eyes . "How are you guys doing then ? Jason ? " "Um, yeah, we're great." I'd honestly forgotten how to smile after years of hiding my emotions. Thankfully Leo stepped in . "Jase , how about we take you to a basketball game ? LeBron James is playing. " He said that like I was supposed to know who LeBron James was. "Um, sorry, but who is LeBron James ?" Shel looked shocked and Piper burst out laughing. "Sheesh ! I know you had no idea what was going on for a while , but really ? LeBron James is like, a basketball legend dude !" Piper finally stopped laughing and Shel stopped staring at me like I'd accidentally summoned a storm .( which I had done multiple times, but she didn't know that . ) "OK, how about we just get our snacks ? Last one there has to do the one chip challenge. " Now Leo started laughing. "Pipes, you are so old! The one chip challenge stopped trending in like 2020 ! " Piper just stuck her tongue out at him and Shel gave her a lovestruck look . They fought so much over some blue takis that a shopkeeper literally had to call 3 other guys to pull them apart, he did manage to give all of them separate packets of the takis though. We ended up with 3 bags of blue takis, 2 packets of jellybeans, 2 tofu and 2 chicken sandwiches, a packet of gummy worms and some jolly ranchers . A very unhealthy choice of goods.
• I spotted a machine in a corner that said ' Slushies ! 5 pounds for a big one and 3 pounds for a medium ' "What are those ?" Leo looked at them, gasped, threw everything he was holding at me and grabbed 2 cups from the machine . " Jase, you've gotta try these ! " He filled the cups to the brim . " You want strawberry or cherry ? Please say cherry, I like the strawberry. " " Cherry, I guess ?" "Yes ! " He grinned and lead us to our table , but someone had taken it , I can recognize that Amber hair anywhere, Leo’s ex- girlfriend, Calypso! Leo took one look at her and his face turned white . Piper noticed and she froze too , thankfully, Shel, somehow managed to usher us off to another table without Calypso spotting us .
• "So, do you want to start with the takis ? " Shel seemed to be the only one with the courage to say anything, to do anything, and I felt stupid, soldiers should be brave , I should be brave . Not cower away because the woman who destroyed Leo’s life and mine was at a table near us. But I was , we were all afraid that she'd further wreck us apart after all the time we spent fixing what she broke.
Leo had caught her cheating on him for the 5th time and after begging and pleading, I got him to break up with her , but Leo was broken . A girl asked him out, she was rather nice and I thought he’d agree, but he rejected her. Later , I held him close as he sobbed into my chest about not trusting anyone anymore. He'd flinched when I reached out an arm to hug him. His eyes would fill with tears or he'd break whatever he was holding when someone mentioned her name . She'd destroyed him, torn him apart and refused to fix what she'd broken .
He'd called me over just a few weeks ago because he'd had a nightmare about her. I was there right away, hugging him like he would dissappear if I let go , I'd let myself cry even though it wasn't my crying time , I'd let myself be vulnerable. Leo and me gave each other the ability to break each other but we trusted each other not to .
I hugged him and hugged him and tried to keep him from hyperventilating, but it didn't work , and that's when I kissed him for the 1st time . I didn't know what I was doing at 1st , I just grabbed his face and kissed him .
His lips were salty from the tears , and his hair was a mess, so I ran my hand through it, fixing it , or at least trying to. When I finally came back to my senses and pulled away from him, apologizing and begging him not to stop being my friend, he pulled me back in and kissed me again .
We kissed until our lips were sore and swollen . My hair was disheveled, his hair was neater than usual . His eyes were still red and mine were shining. My shirt was barely on my shoulder and his wasn't touched . I pulled the sleeve up and both of us had stared at each other , unsure of what to do or say . Then, we laughed and he thanked me and left to wash his face as I sat there , my brain short circuting and my heart racing.
• "JASON GRACE ! " "Huh , what ? Did someone die ? Did Calypso see us ? " " Thank the Gods ! What happened? You zoned out ? " Piper was somehow both annoyed and concerned.
"Where's Leo ? " "OH, yeah. Calypso called him over to her table . " " What !? " A couple of people stared at us like we were crazy . " And you let him go ?!" I got up and rushed to her table , Leo was screaming at her . " --- And you know that, so you should turn back to your rat pack , tell them I'm trash ! And I have a boyfriend now Calypso! And he actually loves me ! "
Calypso laughed, it was an infuriating, evil sound and it made me want to punch her in the face . "Oh please Leo. As if anybody would willing date you . " He gritted his teeth and was about to say something back when I stepped infront of him . " I do ! And I know he's a million times the person you'll ever be Calypso! Because unlike you, he isn't begging to get laid , he's actually trying to be a good person. You're just a self absorbed, narcissistic, piece of shit and I feel sorry for anyone who ever had to suffer the displeasure of meeting you ! So you can piss off and leave us the fuck alone ! Got it ?" She just stared at my face and I pulled Leo back to our table . He stared at me ,too shocked to speak .
"You... You swore , you actually said 2 bad words ! For me ! " I laughed " Baby, I would hunt down every person who ever hurt you and torture them until they were begging me to kill them just for you . I'd destroy the world if you asked . The swearing is nothing." Leo stared at me ." Who are you ?" I laughed . "Isn't it obvious ? The love of your life." I smiled , my eyes glittering. He blushed . " You look nice when you smile." Now I blushed. Then somebody coughed, ruining the mood .
" As much as I love seeing my ship sail, you can eat first . Leo if you don’t, I swear to Hera, I will steal your takis . " "You wouldn't dare. " "Try me bitch. " He grabbed his takis and tore the packet open . Shel looked at me . " You know , I'm glad you died ." I chocked on my slurpee . " I'm sorry , what ? " " Sorry . I didn't mean it like that, but after you died , Piper realized she liked girls , Hera messed with her memories ." I raised my eyebrows . " Dam. I thought you hated me or something. " "Nah. How could I hate the guy that made my girlfriend date me because he died? " I laughed again. "Gee thanks." She grinned.
• Leo leaned back in his seat , finally having successfully acquired his takis , he was grabbing handfuls from the packet and shoving them in his mouth . " So wah' we gonna do later'? " " Don't talk with food in your mouth luv, you're gonna choke ." "Yeah Leo , don't talk with food in your mouth. " Piper teased him . " Oh shut up Pipes ! Shel, please tell your girlfriend to stop bothering me ." Piper stuck her tongue out at him and Shel just grinned lazily.
Leo spoke again, thankfully this time , he had swallowed his food . " How bout we go to the beach ? " "Sure. " "Fine by me . " "If you want to, why not ?" "So it's decided then. Miami , here we come!" "Idiot , it's just the beach . Hopefully you don't 'accidentally' lead us to a nude beach this time Leo . " "In my defense, I had no idea it was a nude beach, I thought it was public! They shouldn't put up signs like that on roads ! "