"Keep running so the sadness can't catch up."

That was Leo's motto, wasn't it? Just keep running, and the sadness would never catch up. Most of the time, that worked perfectly. However, there was one day a year where the sorrow and despair seemed to charge at him at full speed. August 4th, the day she had died.

In past years, Leo would do the same thing every August fourth. He would seclude himself from the world, and drown in the memories. But this year, everything had changed. Now he knew that Dad was a god (Who would've guessed?), and was off on a quest to save the world.

He had already done everything he could to continue his tradition. Leo had told the others last night that he wasn't feeling well, and had asked Percy if he would mind manning the Argo II the next day. A confused Percy had hesitantly agreed, and Leo had stumbled off to bed, cherishing the solitude.

Now, Leo was almost regretting pushing his friends aside. Usually at this point, the son of Hephaestus was in-between schools, and didn't have friends to worry about. He had come accustomed to finding himself a nice alley, and glaring at whoever came across him. He wasn't used to having people that were actually concerned about him, or being checked on every few hours. At this point, Leo was seriously considering letting the next person who opened the door know why he was actually in here.

No, Leo shook the idea out of his head. He didn't want, didn't need their pity. He would just have to be perfectly fine on his own, he decided.

What Leo didn't know, was that outside his door, were six teenagers, all looking very much concerned.

"But he might really be sick!" Hazel threw her hand up in the air in protest. "I don't care if he wants us to check on him, what if he needs to be checked on!" The daughter of Pluto finished, sending a glare around the room.

"He'll be fine Hazel." Jason put a hand of comfort around the girl's shoulders. "You know that demigods have stronger immune systems than regular mortals, he should be up and kicking by tomorrow!" the son of Jupiter added quickly.

"Wait… what day is it?" Piper spoke up suddenly from the corner of the room.

Annabeth frowned before telling her. "It's August fourth, why?"

Piper's eyes grew wide, her face paling. "Oh gods no wonder…" her voice trailed off, eyes turning towards the door. Turning back to the group's questioning glances, she began to explain. "He's not sick."

Percy turned to Piper, eyes full of questions. "But if he was fine, wouldn't he be out here with us?

The daughter of Aphrodite's mouth shifted into a grimace. "I said he wasn't sick," she began slowly, "not fine." Several others opened their mouths to speak, but Piper cut them off with a piercing glare. "Leave him alone." She stated flatly.

"Please Piper," Hazel pleaded, "we just want to help him!" The girl looked up to meet the gaze of the boy next to her, "Right Frank?"

All eyes turned to the only member of their group who had yet to say anything. "Yeah," Frank meet Piper's gaze. "Please tell us Piper. I thought we agreed to no secrets?"

It was true that the seven of the prophecy had agreed to just one rule on the ship. No one was allowed to keep secrets. Nobody was required to tell their story straight out, but if someone asked, than you had to tell them the truth. Nearly everyone on bored had seen just how bad things could get if they didn't trust each other.

Taking a deep breath, Piper hesitantly began. "Well you all know that Leo's mom died a few years ago, right?" Satisfied by the bobbing of heads around her, Piper continued. "Well this is the anniversary of the day she died. I figure Leo would rather be left alone today."

As the expressions on the faces around her change rapidly from concern, to sympathy, Piper hurries on. "But don't go trying to make him feel better! If there's one thing Leo hates, its pity."

Surprisingly, it's Annabeth who nods in agreement. "I can respect that." She states evenly. With a sweeping glace around the room, the daughter of Athena addresses the five half-bloods around her. "Give him space. If he wanted to be around people, then he would have come out by now."

A few hours later, a lone figure quietly enters Leo's room. On reflex more than anything, Leo mutters a quick 'Leave me alone'.

"I know how you feel." Frank blurts out, silently cursing his awkwardness.

Out of curiosity more than anything, Leo opens his eyes and looks up. "What?"

"My mom died a few months ago." Frank mutters nervously. "Sorry, you probably don't care, I'll just go…" As he heads to the door Leo stops him.

"How?" Leo questions.

Swallowing, Frank sits down before answering. "War. Ironic huh?" he adds, sending Leo a grimace."

Laughing hollowly, Leo begins what he's sure will be quite the conversation. "You want to talk about ironic deaths?"

A/N: I'm not really sure what this is, I'm sorry if it made no sense. I was just struck by sudden Leo feels, and this was the result.

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