[A/N Did this chapter disappear for anyone else? I have all my books in my library to make sure things post right and I just noticed that this chapter wasn't there for some reason???]

The morning that the Hunt left, Leo was distraught. It turned out that part of the curse of Calypso's island was to fall in love with heroes who came there, no matter what. She'd gone with the Hunt, leaving the son of Hephaestus with a long apology note and a t-shirt of all things.

Honestly it made sense to Beck. The gods were cruel enough to add that into Calypso's punishment, and at least she had apologized to Leo for what happened. That didn't fix the problem, of course, or mend the boy's heart, but Calypso had tried, at least.

After breakfast, Beck went to weapons practice. The Hephaestus campers were there too, so she found a quieter corner to practice her with her staff.

"Yo mamí, you lookin' pretty good!"

Beck paused to look at Leo, raising an eyebrow. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes ma'am." He grinned, winking at her. "You're Jackson's lil sister, yeah?"

"Yes."

Leo shook his head, grinning. "Pity, he'd probably kill me for flirting with you."

"I'd kill you for flirting with me." Beck said flatly.

"Aw, come on. It's just a little fun." Leo laughed. It was forced, but Beck suspected she was the only one who could tell. "You're not taken, are you?"

"Not at the moment. Unless I'm just overly unaware of my own life."

"I can't tell if you're happy about that or not...." Leo shrugged after a moment. "If you're interested though-"

"I'm not." Beck turned back to her practice dummy and began to go through the motions again.

"Aw come on, Hermosa, gimme a chance-"

He suddenly made a loud sound of pain and Beck turned around, surprised.

Leo was pulling himself to his feet, clutching his nose. Michael stood in front of him, arms crossed.

"Michael, what did you just do?"

He looked at her, glared at Leo, and stalked off.

"I thought you said you weren't dating anyone." Leo complained, still holding his nose. 

"I'm not..." Beck stared after Michael, frowning. What was his deal?

"Oooooow." The son of Hephaestus was still whining.

"Oh grow up. Haven't you ever been punched in the face before?" Beck rolled her eyes.

"Um. It's been a really long time. Excuse me for being human and being able to feel pain!"

She snorted and went back to fighting.

After Dinner

"Leo, can I talk to you?"

He looked up. "Am I gonna get punched again?"

Beck rolled her eyes. "Depends on how annoying you are."

Leo shrugged and hauled himself to his feet. "Whatever, it'll be worth it to get punched by you."

"Yeah, that's what I want to talk about." She led him over to a patch of grass that had been flattened down by a picnic blanket earlier in the day.

Leo sat down and leaned back on his hands. 

"I get that Calypso leaving hurt a lot-" Beck began.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He grinned. "I wasn't super attached to her anyway. And with girls like you around-"

"Leo." Beck said sharply. "I don't want to date you. But I'll be your friend if you need someone to talk to. I know what it feels like to be left behind like that."

He looked surprised, then looked at his feet. For a moment she thought he was just thinking of a way to make another joke, so she continued.

"You can't flirt with me though. That's my only rule."

Leo nodded quietly. "Thanks, Beck. That actually... it means a lot to me."

He looked very vulnerable suddenly, and Beck wondered when the last time he'd actually had someone to talk to about his problems was. Based on his reaction, probably a long time ago.

"Seriously though, you're not dating Michael?"

Beck threw her hands up. "No! I don't know what's giving you that idea!"

[A/N I said I'd show pics w/ next chapter so:

Sophomore year (around Christmas, hence the John Watson jumper)

Now (4 years later). Or more precisely, the day I got it dyed, 3 months ago. Now it's more like:

That one's edited for my insta but you can still see the colors are lighter]