A/N: ...I have absolutely no excuse other than lack of inspiration.

Annabeth Chase was not one to back down from a challenge. Since before she was even 12, she had faced hellhounds, furies, dracaena, angry Greek deities, and, more recently, she had made an enemy of all cows, and had told her mother that she was dating her rival's son.

So why couldn't she deal with a lovestruck Roman girl?

"Reyna." The blond snapped her fingers sharply in front of the other girl's face. Reyna blinked twice and glanced at Annabeth, her lips protruding into a pout.

"Where's Leo?" she asked for what must have been the 30th time that hour alone.

"I don't know where Leo is!" Annabeth threw her hands into the air in exasperation.

"But you said that he was on the moon!" Reyna argued. Annabeth made a mental note to refrain from using sarcasm around Reyna until she was more mentally stable. "When is he getting back?"

"In...three to five weeks," Annabeth sighed. She slumped against the wall of Reyna's living room, pinching the bridge of her nose. Reyna was seated on her sofa with an impatient look on her face (and her hand tied to the coffee table leg with a rope to keep her from running away to find Leo).

"I don't want to wait that long," Reyna whined. The girl had been acting like a five-year-old in a teenager's body, wanting only to find Leo, asking when Leo would be back, occasionally calling Annabeth a rude name in Latin. All in all, the daughter of Athena was certain that Reyna would be horrified to learn how she had acted when she was back to normal.

"Well, you have to," Annabeth snapped. While Reyna continued to pout like Annabeth's step-brothers when they couldn't have cookies before dinner, Annabeth glanced at the bronze clock resting on Reyna's small bookshelf in the corner, and mentally thanked every god and goddess she could think of - it was almost late enough for Annabeth to make Reyna go to sleep.

"Well, I don't want to."

"Well, too bad."

"Well, futete!"

Getting told "eff you" in Latin. That was a new one to cross off her bucket list.

"Well, time for bed," said Annabeth with a smug smile. Reyna's expression immediately turned into one of hope.

"Will Leo be there?" she wanted to know. Annabeth chuckled for the first time all day.

"I can assure you, Reyna, that despite how much he might want to, Leo will not be in bed with you."

Annabeth almost felt like she should take a picture of the devastated look Reyna gave her.

/*\*/*\

"I am a moral human being, I am a moral human being, I am a moral human being, I am a moral human-"

"Technically, you're a moral half-human-and-half-god," Michael interjected. Leo made a strangled crying sound in reply to that statement.

"Whatever. All I know is that Reyna is in love with me and I'm sitting here. In a cabin. That Reyna - who is in love with me - is not in. And I could kind of use some love right now."

"Oh, quit whining," said Michael with a roll of his eyes. The boy flopped down beside Leo on his bunk bed, taking a break from bouncing a little rubber ball against the wall and catching it. "I said I was sorry."

"You will be if it turns out I will never have children because you hit me where it hurts with a baseball," Leo shot back, flinching at the memory. Michael snickered and Leo flicked his arm before sighing heavily and leaning against the wall. "I hate having morals. Morals suck."

"But wouldn't you rather Reyna love you for real and not because she got shot with an arrow?" Michael batted his eyelashes.

Leo stared. "Well, to be honest, if it was between Reyna being fake in love with me and Reyna ignoring me like I were gum on a sidewalk, I really think the choice is obvious."

"For a weaker man. But you? No, Leo Valdez...you have morals." Michael's mouth twitched as if he were holding back laughter.

"Ugh, I hate it that you're right," Leo groaned. "Damn my morals!"

"Since when do you have morals?" Percy appeared in the doorway. A playful smirk presented itself on his face as he stumbled into the cabin and stretched out on his bunk bed on the other side of the room. He groaned as the weight left his legs. "Gods, those Romans are good sword-fighters..."

"Thanks," Michael said.

"No, not you, you're like a walking nightmare when you have a butterknife, let alone a sword, Mr. I-Didn't-Mean-To-Knock-That-Over-Oops-I-Really-Didn't-Mean-To-Bump-Into-You-Oh-Gosh-I'm-So-Sorry-It-Was-An-Accident-I'm-Just-Really-Clumsy," Percy grumbled.

"Imagine having that on your driver's license," Leo remarked. Michael frowned.

"Shut up and go back to pining over Reyna."

"Isn't that what he spends the majority of his time doing?" Percy pointed out. Leo was about to deny that statement, when he thought for a moment and, realizing that Percy was right, decided that silence was his best option.

"Speaking of Reyna, has anybody seen her or Annabeth at all today?" Percy added thoughtfully. "Because usually they're breathing down their respective camp's necks, but I haven't seen either of them since breakast."

Leo shared a glance with Michael, who just raised an eyebrow at him with a look that said "your mess, not mine."

"Reyna...got food poisoning. Annabeth's looking after her."

"Oh, okay. Weird, there was a rumor going around that she got shot with an arrow or something..." Percy just rolled his eyes. "The things people think up."

Leo chuckled almost mechanically in response. "Yeah, Percy. I know what you mean. Sometimes it feels like we're living in a bad sitcom..."

/*\*/*\

Annabeth had finally gotten Reyna (handcuffed) into her bed. Now maybe she could get some peace and rest. The blonde had just gotten comfortable on the couch back in the living room when she realized something. Or, more like a fierce growling made her realize something.

She hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning.

She buried her face in a green throw pillow and tried to ignore the sounds her stomach was making, but it was no use. With a sigh, she peeled herself off of the sofa and wandered into the adjoining kitchen.

It was a tiny little space, packed with a sink, an oven, and a few white cupboards with peeling paint suspended above the fixtures. Annabeth peered inside the cupboards, hoping to find maybe cereal, but no, they were empty, save for a few spiderwebs and something that looked suspiciously like moldy cheese.

"Because it can never be just that easy," Annabeth hissed. She made her way to the front door and slid on her sneakers, cringing when she stepped on a painfully squeaky floorboard.

"Who's there?" a sleepy voice called from down the hall. Annabeth could have kicked herself. Even when they're half-asleep and intoxicated by love magic, Romans had good survival instincts.

"Just me, Annabeth," the daughter of Athena called back.

"Oh...what're you doing?"

"Going to get food..." Annabeth responded awkwardly.

"Ooh, take me with you!" came the excited reply. "Maybe Leo's there!"

"He won't be, Reyna. Just stay here..."

"No! I'm hungry, too."

Annabeth sighed and trudged down the hall, taking out Swiss army knife out of the pocket of her jeans as she went, because she was pretty sure that with her current exhausted and famished state of mind, she wouldn't be able to untie the tight knots that restrained the lovesick Roman.

/*\*/*\

Leo woke up at around midnight to a loud snarling sound coming from very close by. He sat bolt upright and instinctively balled his fists, whipping his head from left to right as he tried to peer into the dark and find the source of the sound. There was silence for one frightening moment, and then the sound came again. This time Leo felt the accompanying sensation in his abdomen, and realized with a start that the sound was coming from him.

Now, Leo's mother had never really approved of his nighttime snacking habits, but she had also never really done anything about it other than helping him pour cereal when he was so tired he'd probably spill milk all over the kitchen floor. So it was with little regret that Leo slipped his shoes on over his bare feet and headed out of the cabin and towards the mess hall.

It was a clear night, a crescent moon hanging over his head like a cardboard cutout in a 2nd grade school play, with stars surrounding it, scattered all across the sky. The grass was long and tickled his ankles lightly while he padded along. The air was warm and sticky and kind of reminded him of nights out with Piper and Jason back at the Wilderness school, when they would climb up on the roof, stare at the stars, sleep only when they were too exhausted to keep talking, and wake up at 5:00 to crawl back into their beds before they were caught. His felt a little pang in his heart, but shook it off, determined not to dwell on what had been.

The hinges of the door to the mess hall were, thankfully, well oiled, and didn't give even the slightest creak when Leo swung the door open and slipped in. The large room was bathed in moonlight from the windows. He shivered at but managed to ignore the eerie shadows cast by the tables and chairs. The things he made the shadows out to be were only figments of his imagination, he reminded himself dutifully. That wasn't a three-headed dog in the corner, there were no boogie-men to be seen, and those certainly were not two girls eating cereal over there-

Wait. Yes, yes they were.

"Annabeth?" Leo squinted, recognizing the orange t-shirt that was illuminated by the bit of light (Annabeth was the only Greek who insisted on wearing her Camp Half-Blood t-shirt everyday, while the other Greeks enjoyed being able to wear something other than the "uniform" while they were in Camp Jupiter.)

The girl looked up, and Leo barely heard her horrified hiss of, "Leo?" when something drilled into his chest, knocking him onto his back with a solid thud.

"The hell?" he gasped, pushing the weight off of him and struggling to sit up.

"Leo! Leo!" a girl's voice echoed throughout the empty hall, volume apparently being of no concern to her. "Annabeth lied! She said you wouldn't be here, but you are!"

"What?" Leo rubbed his eyes with his fists and a wave of horrified realization washed over him.

"Oh...crap...hi, Reyna..."

"Hi, Leo!"

/*\*/*\

"What do we do with her?" Annabeth wanted to know. Leo gave a moody shrug.

"I'm open to any ideas you've got, Wise Girl. But seriously, this is kind of creepy. Usually I'm the one doing the whole obsessive-to-the-point-of-being-a-stalker thing. Actually, now that I think of it, I'm not all that surprised that I've never had a girlfriend if I've always played it like Reyna is right now," he admitted, looking down at the daughter of Bellona curled up on his lap.

Annabeth snorted and nodded in agreement before turning serious. "Really, though, you can't keep away from her forever, and every time she sees you it's like all progress disappears and she starts over."

"Well, we'll just have to find a way to make sure that Reyna and I don't run into each other," Leo determined.

"I think I know what we can try," Annabeth said slowly, "...but you're not going to like it."

"What?" Leo felt a sneaking suspicion, and it filled him with dread.

"We can't do this on our own, Leo. I think it's time we enlist some help."

/*\*/*\

"Okay, let me get this straight." Percy looked like a child on Christmas morning. "Reyna actually did get shot with an arrow? One of Cupid's arrows? And now she's in love with Leo? I'm sorry, but I actually fail to see the problem in this situation."

Leo shot Annabeth a glare. "I told you he'd react like this."

"I never said he wouldn't," Annabeth countered. "But at least he's willing to help, right, Percy?"

"'Course I will," Percy said. "I wouldn't miss a second of this train wreck for the world."

"Um. Thanks. I think," Leo said. He turned to the few other assembled demigods. "What about you guys?"

"All we have to do is keep Reyna and you apart, right?" Piper asked. Leo nodded. "Right, that shouldn't be too hard. I'm in."

"This should be interesting." Frank looked torn between poking Reyna and running away as she grinned at him, while still latched into Leo's arm.

"I'll help," Hazel offered. Leo smiled at her.

"As long as it gets Reyna back to normal," Jason said. He was the only one of the assembled who didn't seem to find this situation at all amusing. On the contrary, he wore a deep-set scowl, and there was an unfamiliar hardness in his eyes that startled even Piper.

"Thank you, guys." Leo felt a surge of affection for his friends, so willing to help him out of even the strangest of situations. He glanced down and saw Reyna beaming up at him. His heart gave a strange twist.

Because even when she was practically drunk, Reyna could take his breath away.

A/N: And on that Leyna-y note, I say thank you for everybody's patience and support :)

Also, if anybody's annoyed that I threw an OC in there, lemme know and I'll be sure to slowly take him out of the equation.

- Hyper