𝓱opelessly devoted to you
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ a/n : LEO VALDEZ YAYAYAY (he’s gonna be a little pathetic in this one, that’s all i gotta say) this was not really proofread bc i had this as a draft since march, i apologize lmao
pairing : leo valdez x child of apollo gn!reader
synopsis : you’re totally unaware of leo valdez’s inner turmoil, and you’re half-aware of his existence (or so he assumes). the son of hephaestus has been head over heels for you since he first set his eyes on you. you’re just trying to enjoy your summer, and leo is guaranteed to not enjoy his if he can’t catch your attention.
content : an ambiguous ending?? :’) reader is gender-neutral + no use of y/n !! leo is a yearner (he claims he’s good at hiding it but he actually isn’t). reader is #sononchalant /hj. !!cheesy!! pacing might be a little slow idk- depends on what's slow for you...?? also, i don't speak spanish so pls bear with me. anyway, no content warnings, just a (cutely) pathetic leo and a reader who unintentionally doesn’t care because they really don’t know who he is lmao.. it’s ok guys there’s gonna be some development in this dw.
ᥫ᭡. being a year-round camper was fun for many at camp half-blood. for leo, it was partially torture.
okay, yeah, it was all great and good because he spent a lot of his time in the forge with his half-siblings. it was leo’s favorite place to hang out, actually. it just sucked that his mind developed a habit of lingering on you.
you, a child of apollo. brilliant and multitalented you.
leo wishes you were a year-round camper like him, otherwise he’d probably miss you a little less.
summer was his favorite time of the year because that was when he got to see you in person. he had to rely on his dreams and polaroids of you to keep him sane until june rolled around.
leo was lost on how to tell anyone about you. he told nyssa only a month ago, and she advised him to approach you this summer so you two could at least develop a friendship. his nerves were already through the roof and probably on the verge of breaking through earth’s atmosphere just by thinking about saying hello.
in just four days you’d be here. four days was a minute when leo was occupied with his tools and other metal knickknacks. he was up at night, wracked with eagerness that entwined with his anxiety.
“¡leo, deja de dar vueltas en la cama!” came nyssa’s groan in the dead of the night. ("leo, stop tossing and turning in the bed!")
“perdón, nyssa,” leo whispered hastily. “i’m just-“
“yeah, yeah, you’re nervous, i know, i know.”
“what’s he nervous about?” came harley’s voice from the other bunk.
“it’s nunya,” leo snarked.
a snicker leaves his lips while nyssa sarcastically murmurs, “haha, you’re so funny. now go to sleep, head counselor."
before he knew it, a sliver of sun from behind the rolling mountains grazed camp half-blood. the covers pooled around leo's hips when he sat up. his head felt light and his eyes ached with dryness from not getting a blink of sleep.
three more days and you’ll be here. leo was beginning to tremble in his spot, and his thoughts jumped from one scenario to another as he debated what he wanted to say to you. well, if he even had courage to talk to you.
leo wracks his mind and decides that this was the summer he wasn’t going to sit back and let his nerves discourage him. this was the summer he was going to stop sulking and finally shoot his shot.
a part of him felt bliss in his delusions that you possibly liked him back despite not knowing anything about him. i mean, he knew a lot about you—from other people, of course, totally—and what he’s learned made him adore you more.
leo rolled out of bed faster than he remembered that his bed was the top bunk. he hit the icy wooden floor face-first accompanied by a thud, followed by a muffled groan.
the son of hephaestus hadn’t experienced a day so unproductive in the forge before. leo’s workspace was littered with wonky and unfinished metalwork that he was clawing at straws to not lose his temper at.
nyssa came over with the bin of scraps and slid his failures into it. “jeez, man, it really is that bad, isn’t it?”
leo’s neck snapped to glare at her. “it’s not so bad.” half of the contents in that bin she was carrying was his leavings.
his half-sister snorts, clearly disbelieving. “i’m not so sure about that.” and with that, she walked away.
a dismal sigh leaves leo’s mouth as his head falls into his arms folded upon the surface of his desk.
finally being able to admire you in person made time feel slow and leo feel as if his heart was suffering from serious palpitations.
besides for the younglings, anyone with an eye or two could tell you, with certainty, that leo valdez was infatuated with you. his crush on you became so obvious that almost everyone he talked to teased him about it.
down in bunker nine was leo, hiding and on the verge of losing his mind over you. in about five minutes, he'd emerge from the forge for lunch at the pavilion. he's crossing his fingers he doesn't begin to hyperventilate in front of everyone at the sight of you.
leo was attempting to carry some confidence in his strides towards the dining pavilion. it was for sure a failed attempt. if he hadn't saw those two campers in his peripheral vision cast him weird looks, he would've deluded himself into thinking that he was acting perfectly normal.
the dining pavilion was bustling with his fellow campers. most of them were outside all morning long, getting up to activities such as archery, swimming, and sparring. many others had spent time inside the arts and crafts cabin. what they all had in common in that moment was that they were starving for a hearty meal.
well, besides for leo. he was craving for a glimpse of you first over everything else. he attempts to be discreet with his gaze, which naturally aligns to your direction. with a plate of your favorite meal in hand, you sat yourself down at the apollo table with the rest of your half-siblings, smiling around at them as they greeted you.
whether or not to tear his eyes away from you to get himself lunch was a difficult decision for him. when he eventually did, he was already missing you.
it felt weird, missing someone he barely talks to. leo wishes he had the confidence to talk to you.
leo lethargically piled food onto a plate and filled a glass with apple juice, before plopping down beside the other hephaestus children at their designated table.
nyssa was the first one to talk to him. she had nudged him with her elbow with a curious look. "talked to them yet?"
heat rushed through leo's face and he slouched in his seat.
"no," he mumbled, embarrassed. "i'm not gonna talk to them now!"
"who's 'them'?" harley questioned, like he did the other night. it seems like he wasn't going to let up any time soon.
leo groaned and buried his face in his hands, while nyssa took the opportunity to finally fill their little sibling in.
"you see that apollo kid over there, h-meister?" she said, sitting up straight to gain a better view of you across the dining pavilion. nyssa then proceeded to point you out to harley.
"yeah, i see them, i think!" harley replied. a puzzled expression settles upon his face. "what about them?"
nyssa turns back around to face harley, before hushedly telling him, "leo is in love with them."
it seems like nyssa wasn't as quiet as she wanted to be because some of the other hephaestus kids had gasped or laughed in astonishment immediately after, indicating that they've been listening in this whole time.
leo was so desperate for the ground beneath him to open up and swallow him whole. this was bad. his whole cabin has been suspecting him of harboring feelings for you, and nyssa's inability to whisper secrets helped confirm it.
word's definitely gonna get out now, and everybody who was teasing him before was gonna be teasing him even more now.
leo ended up not eating any of his food that lunchtime.
the hour after lunch was spent with nyssa and harley, who were helping leo devise some sort of plan on how to get your attention in a "natural" way.
leo was crouched with nyssa and harley in a corner of their cabin's common area. "okay, so, harley is gonna keep an eye on them, and when he sees them walking towards the cabins, he's gonna signal to you to come out of our cabin and then pretend to not pay attention to the direction you're walking in-" nyssa began explaining.
"should i pretend to be messing with a small gear?" interjected leo.
his half-sister's eyebrows rose as if he was a genius. "yeah, yeah, you should. anyway, as i was saying- pretend to not pay attention and then bump into them."
leo was waiting for her to go on before realizing that that was where the plan stopped.
"espera, espera- why'd you stop?" he demanded incredulously. "you guys aren't gonna let me wing it, are you?"
"dude, the ball's in your court after you bump into them," said nyssa. "this isn't some, like, spy mission where you have a secret listening device so we can tell you what to say."
"that would be fun, though," spoke harley, nodding thoughtfully.
"listen to harley!" leo exclaimed to nyssa with a nervous smile, who, in return, gave him an unamused expression.
"i genuinely feel like i'm the counselor sometimes with how you act," nyssa murmured.
nyssa cleared her throat. "anyway, harley, look at the window and keep an eye out for leo's único amor." leo attempted arguing against that name, but to no avail.
leo was cringing at himself, watching harley, akin to an actual soldier, march up to one of the windows and diligently peering through the glass.
"do we really have to do this, nyssa?" whispered leo. his palms were getting clammy and harley hasn't even spotted you yet.
she shrugs in response. "i mean, you wanna talk to them right? i just wanna help out a little, leo. every time i look at you, you're just moping and i feel bad-"
"guys!" harley cried from the other side of the room. "leo, this is your cue!"
leo rubbed his face, contemplating for a hot second whether or not he should be doing this, before nyssa gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder with a smile that said 'i believe in you'. that was the final push.
"good luck, leo!" exclaimed his half-brother. leo had thrown him one last smile, before dashing out the hephaestus cabin and down the steps of the stone porch.
though he was fidgeting with a small helical gear that he'd taken from the forge, it was his mind that was distracting him. leo's thoughts were a jumble of nonsense. regardless of how many times he's inhaled and exhaled, he couldn't get himself to calm down. he was so distracted that when he finally crashed into you, he felt like he had been slammed back down to earth.
leo had tumbled back onto the grass. he lifted his head and squinted at you in all your glory.
was it just him, or did you have a halo-?
oh, wait, no, your head just coincidentally lined up with the center of the sun, making the ring of rays look like you had a spiky golden halo hovering over your head.
"oh, gods, i'm really sorry, i didn't see you there," you spoke.
the words were tangled in leo's throat. just a sentence from you, and he was already flustered. "n-no, it's... um... it's my fault- i was so distracted a-and i..."
"here," you said, offering a hand to help him up. leo's eyes darted between your palm and your face, before he graciously accepted.
oh my gods, his mind screamed, basically reeling. this is really happening. and they're so warm. this is so strange... this is great!
"i-i'm leo," he stammered. "leo valdez."
"oh, yeah, i know," you assure him with such a cool, casual manner. he wonders how you do it.
wow, they're so cool!, his thoughts squealed like a bunch of fangirls, and they know my name... oh my gods, is that a sign? no, leo, get it together, they probably know almost everybody's names because they're friends with a lot of the campers. maybe i'm not special after all...
silence had wedged itself between you two, and leo was trying so hard not to punch himself in that moment. when you finally opened your mouth, leo was relieved, until he caught wind of the words that would proceed to come out of your mouth.
"i've heard a little about you," you'd begin.
leo gulps, and another lump forms in his throat. what could you have possibly heard about him? he could practically hear his heart pumping blood at a scarily fast rate through his ears. gods, he hoped you hadn't heard about his crush on you.
play it cool, leo, he mentally urged himself. he waits for you to say more.
"it never occured to me how little we've interacted," you continue.
a nervous smile pulls at the corners of his mouth. "uh, yeah, me too." the ratio of how much he likes you to how much you two talk frustrates him. he's been painfully aware of it for a long while.
"you seem like a nice person, valdez," you eventually said. "sorry, it's so awkward. i don't do well talking to people i barely know."
leo could die a happy guy right here, right now. you were basically saying that you also thought he was cool.
"ah, me too. um, a lot of people don't, so you're not alone," he replied. he then choked out, "we should totally hang out sometime. o-only if you're up for it! maybe we could hang out at the campfire tonight, or s-something like that."
leo couldn't put the relief he felt into words when you blessed him with that gorgeous smile of yours and told him, "that'd be fun. sure, why not?"
the son of hephaestus returned to cabin nine when you two eventually excused yourselves from the conversation.
leo was so pumped for tonight.
the evening came in what felt like a blink of an eye.
leo was stressing about his appearance, debating whether or not he looked presentable.
"jeez, leo, don't think too hard about it," nyssa grumbled as she adjusted her bandana. "everybody at the campfire is gonna smell like smoke. algunos de ellos probablemente huelen a sudor porque pasaron todo el día entrenando al aire libre." ("some of them probably smell like sweat because they spent all day training outside.")
leo paused, considering her words before saying, "ah, tienes razón." ("ah, you're right.")
"come on, lover-boy. let's go!"
by the time he and nyssa approached the campfire, you were already there, surrounded by a few of your half-siblings. it was as if you two were magnetized when his eyes glued themselves onto yours, which were staring right back at him.
you offered him another smile and a small wave. the cheesy grin leo failed to contain made you giggle. although the sound was overridden by the chatter of the other campers, he found beauty in your laugh all the same.
you took it upon yourself to get up from your spot and walk over to him. leo remained still in his spot, feeling himself wanting to shy away.
but he didn't. not this time.
"hey, valdez," you greeted him. "wanna go sit down somewhere? i don't wanna block somebody's view of the campfire."
"yeah," he nodded, "yeah, that's a good idea."
leo followed you over to the nearest log bench. fortunately, for the most part it was unoccupied. you two settled down next to each other on the vacant end of the bench.
the whole time, leo had his eyes trained on your face. he took notice of your eyes straying up to the dark sky. your gaze was a mirror, reflecting the bright stars that illuminated the inky expanse.
then your eyes were a mirror image of dancing flames when you had casted your gaze towards the campfire.
suddenly, you looked at him and the noise of camp life around you two became a distant sound. leo had never felt so alive before.
"do... do you like the stars?" he asked you timidly. "you- you remind me of a star. you just, uh, glow like that, like a star. you're so pretty."
leo winced at his own impulsiveness and looked away. with how hot his face felt, he almost thought his face had caught on fire.
"i'm so sorry," he croaked. "i mean, i'm not sorry because i really do think you're pretty- i mean- i meant i was sorry if that was creepy! you know what, pretend i never said anything-!"
when he heard you chuckle, all the tenseness he felt previously had dissolved. he glanced back at you with hesitant eyes.
"you're good," you assured him, "don't worry."
leo possessed half the mind to ask you how you were so relaxed while he felt like he was about to explode into flames any minute now.
leo was supposed to be confidently bold—or at least that’s what he told himself.
he then cleared his throat.
“hey, uh, do you like s’mores? they’re pretty sweet, in my opinion,” he began, attempting not to stumble over his words, “i’m not too much of a sweet tooth, but you’re the only sweet thing i can handle.” he bit back a wince. that was not smooth, like, at all. that was so bad.
yet the moment leo heard you chuckle and saw a genuine smile forming on your face, he almost jumped up from his spot on the bench and cheered.
“you’re funny,” you told him, still smiling softly at him. “maybe not incredibly smooth, but funny.”
“that’s better than ‘horrible’,” he shrugged, a hint of newfound smugness in his posture. “i do mean it, you know.”
you gave him a playful look. “do you?”
“i mean, how could anybody not?” he admitted truthfully, unconsciously leaning in with a smitten expression. “i mean, from what i’ve heard, you’re, like, incredible.”
you laugh, waving a dismissive hand. “goodness, you think very highly of me.”
“again, how could anybody not?” leo repeated, his eyes searching your face for nothing but filled with untouchable admiration for you. “you’re smart, creative, friendly, and beautiful, and basically just amazing all around. gods, when we crashed into each other earlier today, your head perfectly lined up with the center of the sun and i almost believed you were some angelic being.”
you remained quiet but your attention was solely focused on leo and what he had to say.
“and- and even though you’re not an actual angelic being, i just. . . i thought you should know that, to me, you’re like one.”
when you didn’t respond immediately afterward, leo’s senses began racing with panic.
“i’m sorry, was that weird? i’ll shut up now—” he began, but stopped and smiled shyly when you laughed and shook your head.
“i didn’t mean to, uh, ramble,” leo told you embarrassedly. “i was telling the truth, though. i’m glad you don’t think i’m, like, weird.”
you smiled again, and leo almost fainted. “the thought of you as weird hasn’t crossed my mind—yet,” you tease.
“i wouldn’t mind being your weirdo,” leo blurted dreamily, before catching himself. his face contorted with mortification at himself, but when you laughed again, his expression eased in tenseness. his own laughter shortly joined yours, and you two laughed until your abdomens ached.
when leo closed the door behind him, he was way over the moon. he was probably making his second loop around the milky way now. his cheeks and their muscles felt like they were burning from the combination of smiling too much while talking to you and heating up in embarrassment every instance he stuttered or said something a bit too cringy and bold.
leo’s mind was consumed by thoughts of you more than usual, but this time, he really wasn’t complaining about it. instead, he wore a derpy smile on his face as he showered off any remaining soot snd smoke sticking to his skin from the workshop.
everyone else in the hephaestus cabin was already deep in slumber by the time leo tucked himself in. his brain refused to turn off and leave him alone. he couldn’t stop thinking about you and what he learned about you in your long conversation during the campfire. of course, leo didn’t know everything about you yet, but there was no denying he was eager to find out more.
he thought about the fact that even after interruptions, you two eased back into conversation, drawn back to each other in such a natural manner again and again like two people written in the stars to be together.
and maybe you two really were written in the stars.
maybe it was too soon to tell.
but leo valdez was head over heels in love with you, and he didn’t want it any other way.
