Explorations in Baking

Just a fluffy little one-shot!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. All credit goes to the brilliant - and sometimes evil - Rick Riordan!

"I want this to be perfect," Piper said, for about the thousandth time. Annabeth looked at her with pure exasperation.

"You say that one more time…" Annabeth said dangerously, letting the threat hang in the air. Piper sighed. It was Leo's birthday, and Piper was trying to make him a cake. Now the cake was in the oven, and she was anxious to know if it would work. Her previous cooking explorations hadn't been successful.

When Jason was sick, she had tried baking him cookies but ended up setting half the camp on fire. She had tried to make a milkshake, but she forgot to but the top on. Her toast always got burnt. Leo had deemed her a 'water-burner'. Piper was going to prove him wrong.

"Do you think it's ready?" she asked anxiously. Annabeth regarded her carefully.

"Considering we put it in the oven 5 minutes ago…no."

"Oh…right," Piper said slowly. "How much longer?"

"A full 25 minutes. Instead of hovering around the oven, why don't you find something nice to wear?" Piper wrinkled her nose.

"It's just Leo," she said airily. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to say you don't have any feelings towards Leo?" she asked. Piper felt her heartbeat quicken.

"Of course I do. I love him! He's like a brother," she said easily, though it stung her throat to say it. Sometimes she found herself wishing that Leo was something more than a brother, but then she would remember Jason, and all would be good. But this time, all was not good. As much as she tried to imagine Jason, Leo's grinning face kept jumping in the way. She was brought back to reality by Annabeth's voice.

"Oh come on Piper," she was saying, "why are you baking a cake for him?" she crossed her arms triumphantly.

"Sister's do that for brothers," Piper said shortly before peering into the oven. Annabeth frowned.

"Oh, don't deny it Piper. I can read people well, I know you like Leo in another way. You're just conflicted because of Jason, which is understandable." Piper looked straight into Annabeth's grey eyes and saw that she was dead serious. She sighed.

"I guess sometimes I feel that way," Piper admitted, "but it doesn't matter. I'm with Jason."

"Right," Annabeth said, almost disappointedly.

"And I am very happy with Jason," Piper said loudly.

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself," Annabeth said wisely. This earned her a glare from Piper. "By the way, I'm Team Leo."

20 minutes later, the girls were preparing to pull the cake out of the oven.

"You do it," Piper was saying anxiously.

"Why should I do it? You do it." Annabeth responded.

"No, you do it!" Piper said impatiently.

"Just take the cake out before it burns," Annabeth snapped, and Piper obeyed. Her heart sank as she pulled it out. "On second thought, maybe we should let it burn," Annabeth said once she caught sight of it.

The cake hadn't risen and was a flat, burnt at the edges mess. "Maybe it'll taste okay," Piper said hopefully. She took the nearest knife and cut into the cake, but the knife came out covered in uncooked batter. "What happened?"

"We must've forgotten an ingredient or something," Annabeth said frowning.

"You're a daughter of Athena! Aren't you supposed to know how to measure and stuff?" Piper asked.

"Baking isn't covered," Annabeth said with a shrug. "Let's just try again. You dump the cake and re-prepare the pan, and I'll get started on the batter."

Piper started banging the pan on the counter. "The cake won't come out," she said through gritted teeth. She turned the pan so the cake was facing up and slammed it hard on the counter repeatedly. This must have eventually loosened the cake because suddenly there was a chocolate cake stuck to the ceiling. "It came out," Piper said weakly, and Annabeth turned to look up.

"What did you do?" she demanded.

"I was trying to get the cake out and it just…that," Piper explained. Annabeth sighed.

"It'll fall off eventually," she said shaking her head. "Just get the pan ready and help me with this batter." They set to work, and soon had another cake in the oven.

"Come on, I need to show you the poster for my dad's next movie," Piper said, pulling Annabeth to her room. "He even sent me a rough draft of the script. The girls sat down and looked at the script, laughing and pointing out parts.

"Do you smell something burning?" Annabeth said suddenly, looking around.

Piper and Annabeth looked at each other and said together, "The cake!" They raced to the kitchen, and pulled open the oven. Immediately they found themselves coughing through the thick smoke. Waving it away, Annabeth pulled the cake out. It was black.

"Oh no." Annabeth turned the cake over and banged it hard on the table. The cake came out easily.

"What are we going to do?" Piper said anxiously. "Leo will be here in an hour!"

"We better hurry," Annabeth said, and a while later the third cake was in the oven. The girls had agreed not to leave the kitchen this time. "It better work this time, because we're all out of eggs."

"And everyone will be here soon," Piper added. In addition to Leo, she had invited Hazel, Percy, Frank, Jason, and upon Jason's request, Reyna.

When the carefully set timer went off, the girls pulled the cake out of the oven. It looked beautiful, and was perfectly baked.

"Alright," Annabeth said, clapping her hands together. "Let's take that cake out and start frosting."

"It's not coming out!" Piper said, banging the cake on the counter.

"What? Um, try using a knife!" Annabeth said anxiously. Piper did so, but the cake still wouldn't budge. "Did you remember to grease the pan?" Annabeth asked quietly.

"Oh…" Piper said with wide eyes. "Oops." There was a sudden knocking at the door, and Piper went to open it. Everyone had arrived.

"Hey Piper," Jason said smiling.

"Oh great, you guys just had to come all at once," Piper said, turning and walking back to the kitchen, slumping against the counter. To her horror, everyone followed.

"What happened in here?" Hazel said looking around. Leo, who was looking annoyingly good, was grinning from ear to ear.

"Looks like Beauty Queen tried to bake a cake," he said smiling widely. "Let's see… one burnt – expected, and one stuck to the pan – understandable." Piper frowned at him. He hadn't noticed the one stuck to the ceiling. There was a sudden yelp and Piper spun around.

Frank had a chocolate cake on his head, and the one on the ceiling was gone. Leo grinned. "Cake on the ceiling – classic!"

"I tried."

"I can see that. Why don't I make the cake?" Leo asked.

"No eggs," Annabeth said, holding up the empty carton.

"Well, then I don't need a cake." Leo walked over to the closet and started searching. He pulled out a bag of bagels. "I'd prefer a birthday bagel."

"Don't be stupid," Piper snapped. "We'll just buy a cake from the bakery."

"I'll go," Reyna offered.

"You sure?" Leo asked.

"Yes, Leo, I am very sure," Reyna said, turning and walking out the door.

"Well…take a seat," Piper said awkwardly. Everyone swarmed to the couches, except for the cake-covered Frank. "Bathroom's over there," Piper said, pointing.

"Hey, Piper, we need to talk," Jason said from behind her. Piper jumped and turned around. She smiled when she saw him and nodded. "It's about…Reyna."

Piper dropped her smile immediately. "What about her?"

"Piper – don't hate me – but I think I might…"

"Love her?" Piper said, feeling herself go numb. She forced herself to smile. "Go for it. I won't bother you guys. I won't be bitter."

"Piper, I thought about it, and…" he trailed off as if unsure whether to continue, "and it seems that you like Leo as more than a friend. I'm guessing you didn't go for it because of me, but now…and in a way isn't this better? Now everyone's happy! Sickly sweet ending, right? Reyna's happy, Leo's happy, we're happy…"

Piper realized that Jason was right. This was the way it was supposed to go. "We're still friends right?"

"Of course," Jason said. "I'll uh…go and, uh, you know…tell them."

"Oh, that'll be awkward," Piper said sympathetically. Jason smiled at her before turning to leave. Piper turned to lean against the counter. She almost felt…relieved. She turned at the sound of footsteps. It was Leo.

"Hello Beauty Queen," Leo said standing next to her, very close. "I appreciate what you did for me."

"Sure," she said derisively.

"By the way, as long as we're together, I think it's best if I handle the cooking," he said grinning widely. Piper smiled.

"Fair enough…wait, what did you mean together?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. Leo shrugged.

"Heard about your breakup."

"What makes you think I'd like to go out with you?" Piper asked raising her chin.

"I heard you talking to Jason." This earned him a playful punch from Piper.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop," she scolded.

"It's not my goal to be polite," Leo responded, smiling. Piper smiled back. "So is what Jason said true? Is Beauty Queen falling for Repair Boy?"

"Maybe," Piper said, stepping closer. "But, how does this make Repair Boy feel?"

Leo stepped closer before saying, "It makes him feel amazing. After all, this is what he's been dreaming of ever since he met Beauty Queen."

"Really?" Piper asked in surprise. Leo had liked her all along.

"Maybe not immediately, but after getting to know Beauty Queen, Repair Boy fell in love. Of course, he hid it so their friendship wouldn't be ruined. Besides, Beauty Queen was in love with someone else."

"But now Beauty Queen realizes that she always loved Repair Boy. Then what would happen?"

"What do you think should happen?"

"What do you think should happen?" Piper replied. Leo smiled and leaned in even closer. His face was only centimeters apart from Piper's. She felt her heart shudder. On a sudden impulse, Piper closed the small gap and kissed Leo. It was slow and gentle and soon her arms were wrapped around his neck and his arms were around her waist. He was pulling away too soon.

"I love you Piper," Leo said, cupping her face in his hands and placing his forehead against hers.

"I love you too," Piper murmured back.

There was the sudden sound of a door being thrown open, and then Reyna's voice called, "Cake's here!" She froze when she saw Piper and Leo together in the kitchen. Then she gave a rare smile. "Jason told you?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Piper still nodded.

"I rather like how things worked out," Leo said cheerily. Reyna turned her gaze upon him.

"Same here Valdez," she said, her eyes twinkling. Piper smiled, happy that everything had worked out.

Then birthday wishes were sung, candles were blown, cake was cut and pictures were taken, resulting in everyone lounging around, feeling content.

"I always was team Leo," Annabeth said suddenly. She was lying on a couch with her head on Percy, who was stroking her blonde hair.

"How nice of you," Jason said dryly from his place next to Reyna, who was cuddled against him.

"What can I say? Team Leo for the win!" Leo said grinning. Piper was lying with her feet on his lap.

An hour later, it was just Piper and Leo. Annabeth, who Piper shared the room with, had gone to the lake with Percy. Piper was cleaning the dishes. Suddenly, there was a hand on hers. She looked up and into the brown eyes of Leo. She smiled before saying, "What do you want?"

"You're time," Leo replied smoothly.

Piper sighed. "I don't know, that's on pretty high demand." Leo grinned.

"I guess I can understand that." His eyes were looking straight at hers. "I love you."

Piper smiled. "I know."

"That's all I get?"

"I might love you back if you help me with the dishes…" Piper said slyly.

"Um…I don't think so." He watched as Piper scrubbed before saying, "Thank you."

"For what?" Piper asked.

"The cake," Leo said simply.

"You're thanking me for messing up 3 different cakes?" Piper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's the thought that counts," said Leo with a shrug. "By the way, are you busy Friday night?"

"Why?" Piper asked, trying hard not to smile.

"I need you're help with a project I'm working on." Piper's smile disappeared. "Why so down all of a sudden? Were you expecting something else?" Piper decided not to respond. Leo grinned. "Fine, scratch that. How about I take you out for dinner instead?"

"Like…a date?"

"No – a corporate meeting. Come on Piper, of course a date!" Piper smiled.

"When'll you pick me up?"

"Um, seven?"

"Okay," Piper said shortly. "Bye now!"

"Wait what?" Leo protested as Piper pushed him towards the door. "You're kicking me out?" Piper just smiled and shut the door behind him, turning and leaning against it.

She felt extremely happy.

I honestly wasn't sure how to end this. What did you guys think? I know, it was very fluffy! Please please PLEASE REVIEW!

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