Leo, Calypso, Frank, and Hazel
decided to have lunch at a café near their place in New Rome. It was a lovely
day, with clear clue skies and the perfect temperature, but moods were glum.

Hazel had said
something that might have set back Leo and Calypso's "relationship
meter." It was nothing really, just a passing comment about a past incident
with nymphs and Narcissus, but girls were girls, which meant they got jealous
about other girls. It was enough to give a guy a god-sized headache.

Leo gloomily ate
his sandwich. Hazel picked at her food, and Calypso barely touched anything.
Frank, well, this Leo/Calypso thing didn't really affect him, but he worried
about Hazel, who looked like she was blaming herself.

Jason and Piper
walked up to the sulking group.

"Hey,"
Piper said cautiously, taking in the tense mood floating about. She latched
onto Jason's arm. "Sorry about earlier. I was pretty stressed and homesick
and dadsick… and I don't know…" Sighing, she closed her head and leaned
into Jason's side.

There were a few
mumbles from the four about it being okay and understandable. The standing
couple glanced at each other, having a silent, concerned conversation.

Leo had his head
in his hands and stared down at the table. The dark wood had breadcrumbs and
water droplets scattered about. The weekend was supposed to be a great time for
Calypso and him to get closer, but darn…

He got up, brushed
himself off, and addressed the others, "Well, I'm done. I'll meet you guys
back at Frank's place I guess."

They nodded. Piper
and Jason left, and Calypso, Hazel, and Frank (who was finishing up his lunch)
stayed behind.

The walk to the
small home was short, but at least he had time alone to mull over things.
Festus was being cared for in the stables. The shop was locked up and ready to
be opened again when they got back. Leo was okay physically, which was good, considering
he was a demigod who smelled pretty bad. Calypso was… well, he didn't know. He
didn't think he'd ever know what she felt like.

When he first met
her, she hated him and the feeling was mutual. Then he had found her crying and
loosened a bit up. He began working on a way off the island while Calypso
cooked him food and made him clothes. Then both of them had worked together and
built a device for a raft, which had shown up at the end, meaning Calypso must
have liked him. And then she kissed him. And from there on forward, Leo had no
idea.

He was sprawled
out on the couch with his shoes off when Calypso entered through the front
door. They made eye contact, which lasted very shortly. Calypso's eyes
reflected a little bit of pain and confusion and… something else, something
soft and warm. But Leo could place no word to match it. She walked past him and
into her room without a sound or even the smallest glance in his direction. It
made Leo's heart crack. For something figurative, it hurt a lot.

When the door
closed, Leo could hear a muffled groan from the room, like her face was buried
in a pillow. Following that was the run of the showerhead from the guest
bathroom.

Leo stared at the
ceiling. She was his first real love. What he thought he had with Khione was
nothing compared to how he felt for Calypso. Calypso was like a soft, warm ray
of sunshine, a cool breeze in the hot summer air, a flower in a forest of
weeds. When ever he was near her, his heart stopped working like a broken
engine or it sped up like an oiled clog. Leo just couldn't bring himself to
brave up and tell her, which was funny, because defeating Gaea seemed easier
than this.

The minutes
passed, Calypso was out of the shower but still mulling about in her room, when
Frank and Hazel came back. They seemed better, but who could really tell.

Leo heard Hazel
whisper something to Frank, then she went into Calypso's room.

"Hey."
He said to Frank.

Frank nodded.
"Hey."

They shared that
manly "hey" thing that guys always do and Frank walked into his
bedroom. Leo heard a sprinkle of water and a "Hey, Coach. How's Mellie and
the kid?"

He wanted to get
up and fix something, but he didn't have anything that needed fixing. Muffled
voices came from the guest room, it was hard to tell, but he thought he heard
his name.

Now I dare you to
not listen when someone was talking about you. Leo sprang from the couch, and
as quietly as he could, he snuck to put his ear against the door.

H: So… how are you
feeling?

C:*sigh*Confused. Definitely confused.

"Is it about,
um, Leo?"

"…"

"If you don't
want to tell me, it's okay. I'm not really that close to you or whatever."

"No, it's
okay. At least you'll understand."

"Probably. So
what is it?"

"Um, it's…
definitely Leo."

Leo cringed. Was
he a problem? Did he bother her? Did he—

Calypso blurted
out quickly, "I really like him and I'm even more confused because I don't
know if he feels the same and that would be weird because if he doesn't feel
the same it'll be bad, like really bad and I don't really know him that well
but I feel like I know him, you know?"

Leo turned red.
Oh. He wanted to tell her he really liked her too, but that would show he was
listening.

Hazel laughed.
"I can't tell you whether he likes you back or not, he'll have to say
himself. What I can tell you is that during the whole Narcissus thing, the
'Team Leo' thing was just to get the crazy nymph fangirls away so Narcissus
wouldn't look at the bronze we needed. Nothing love related. And not with Echo
either; she was trying to save Mr. Vain from dying again."

Calypso sounded
embarrassed when she spoke. "Oh. I guess. I mean, I was just…"

"I know what
you mean. Starting a relationship with someone is just as hard as keeping it
together, which means no love rivals. Even misunderstandings like when Frank
thought Leo had a thing for me."

"Did he? Does
he?"

Hazel chuckled
again. "No, he's related to my old possible-boyfriend back when I was
alive. For the first time, I mean. He looks a lot like Sammy did."

"What?"

"Long story.
Tell it to you later."

There was a
silence broken by Calypso. "I think I'm going to talk to Leo. Maybe tell
him how I feel."

Leo heard her get
up from sitting on the bed, but reacted much to late. He had just realized that
she was leaving the room right through that very door when she opened it and he
fell on the floor inside.

He crashed in a
tangled heap, pulling Calypso down with him. She was pinned underneath him, and
Calypso turned redder than a ripe tomato in her garden. Leo could feel his ears
heating up.

He winced at her. "Um, hello?"