FINALLY! AN UPDATE FOR RANDOMNESS, PJO STYLE! I HAVEN'T UPDATED SINCE BECCA'S B-DAY. SHE DIDN'T WRITE ME A PARTY. I'D FLAME HER BUT SHE KNOWS WHERE I LIVE. (the chances of her actually getting there are tiny, but she know where there is.) SHE SHOULD STILL WRITE ME A PARTY. ITS SAD HOW LONG THIS STORY HAS BEEN GOING ON. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.

Love.

Leo

Oh my goodness your awesome on

Valentines day you'll give me a million kisses and we'll leave the party

Early for some romantic time alone.

Maria was writing in her notebook, sighing as she imagined the perfect valentines day, and let her dreams be crumpled up and tossed in the trash can because she knew how it would actually be spent.

Leo was going away on a quest, something about one of his machines destroying Miami or something, and he wouldn't be there for the most romantic holiday of the year. Maria had tried not to cry, but she'd spent all of last night in her cabin sobbing, so obviously it wasn't working. Leo had to go pack or they'd be spending now with each other.

Maria sat under a tree near the strawberry fields and wrote and drew and cried until somebody approached her. She looked up hoping to see Leo, she smiled sadly, stood up and hugged him.

"You have to go don't you baby?"

"Yeah... I'm so so sorry that I can't be their for valentines day. Honest, I'll give you those million kisses when I get back."

"You can't give me any now?" Maria pouted. He kissed her passionately for a minute then pulled back.

"I'm sorry baby, but I've got to go." He ran towards the hill and Maria sank back against her tree, tears already beginning to fall. She put her head in her hands and cried, tears falling on her notebook and her picture of her and Leo at the party Becca was throwing that she probably wouldn't attend. If she couldn't go with Leo and dance with Leo and let Leo give her his jacket if the February air got cold, then why go at all? Last valentines day she'd had no on to go with, no one to call her truest of true loves. She hadn't gone, just went for a walk by herself but the beach. It wasn't a terrible day to spend Valentines day when you were single, but the thought of having to do it again with a boyfriend, miles away, just made her cry harder.

"Hey, want a strawberry?" A voice said, grabbing a strawberry and offering it to her. She looked up and saw Travis. She hesitantly took the strawberry.

"Can I sit down?" He asked as she took a bite. It wasn't, surprisingly, a prank strawberry, so she nodded and he sat.

"I heard about Leo's quest. I'm sorry." She nodded again, drying her tears.

"If it's any consolation, Katie dumped me to go with a Aphrodite guy. So I don't have anyone to go with next week and maybe we could go together... As friends and sibling and... This is awkward..." Maria laughed in spite of herself.

"Because you understand how I feel, I think I'd like going with you."

"When should I pick you up?" He teased, and Maria smiled for the first time since Leo'd left.

It was Valentines day and Maria was dressed in the dress she'd been planning on wearing for weeks before Leo's quest was issued. It was soft and red and sparkly- otherwise something she would NEVER wear if it weren't the love holiday.

Aphrodite cabin was having a ball, giving girls free makeovers and giggling at couples that had or hadn't made it to Valentines day.

"So you're going with Leo of course." Lacy said as she did up Maria's hair with more sparkles and braids.

"Actually Leo had to go on a quest. He can't be my date." Maria said sadly.

"You're going to a valentines day party all dressed up, alone?"

"No, Travis is taking me."

"Ew, he's your brother."

"We're going as friends."

"You two are friends?"

"Katie dumped him for one of your brothers."

"Ouch."

Maria hung back at the party. A couple of guys tried to get her to dance but her heart wasn't in it. Travis came over to sit by her after awhile as she watched everyone else dance.

"You don't want to dance?" He asked, handing her a glass of punch.

"No. They're not Leo."

"You really love him don't you?"

"More than anything."

"Even your really awesome older brother?"

"Yeah, even more than that." She laughed.

"Well, what if I gave you a valentines day present, then who would you love better?"

"Leo. But you can still give me a present." Travis rolled his eyes and handed her a pretty silver bracelet.

"I- well um... I was going to give it to Katie, but its obvious who she wants to be with." He nodded toward Katie and the boy she was dancing with. She looked happy, they both did.

"You'll find someone better. Until then, I'll dance with you. You'll always have your cabin mates, even if you don't have a girlfriend."

"Dance with you?" Travis laughed.

"Um no thanks, I've seen you dance."

"Travis!" Maria laughed.

"What? Its true!" They talked and laughed till the end of the party, their friends joining them, slowly trickling away from the dance floor.

Maria had fallen asleep with her head on the table. She didn't want to leave for some reason.

"Hey. You look pretty." A gentle, amazing voice said. Maria's head jerked up.

"Leo! You're back!" She tackled him in a hug, hair getting messed up in the process.

"It's not Valentines day anymore, but we can dance, and we can kiss and..."

"It's okay its all okay cuz you're here..." She covered his face in kisses.

"I love you. I got you a present."

Oooh cliffy what'd he get her?!