Hi guys, I love Jason, Leo and Piper as a trio, and I was inspired to write this fic! Enjoy and review. x

"Found him!" Jason called up the staircase to Piper upon discovering the whereabouts of their Latino best friend. Jason ventured further into the Mess Hall, and saw that said boy was slumped over in a chair, burying his face into his arms which were resting on the table. After hearing Jason approach Leo lifted his head and attempted to slap his usual slightly insane grin onto his face. But he couldn't fool Jason. His eyes were rimmed red and puffy, and under those eyes were dark circles. Jason patted the boy on the shoulder as he passed and took a seat at the table beside him. Piper joined them a few seconds later, jogging over to the son of Hephaestus and fussing over him.

"Leo, where the heck have you been? Coach Hedge said he hadn't seen you since 6am this morning. We were worried sick!"

Leo gave an amused half smile. "Chill, Pipes, I've just been working on some stuff- Archimedes spheres, maps to the Doors of Death- you know, normal everyday things like that."

Piper furrowed her eyebrows. She looked, Jason guessed, the way a worried mother would look. "Well you need to take a break, you look like a mess." The daughter of Aphrodite remarked, reaching out to ruffle Leo's dark hair.

"Thanks for the boost of self-esteem, Beauty Queen." He deadpanned. Jason looked at the way Leo's eyes stared off into the distance when he wasn't talking, like his mind was in a completely different world. The way his hands fiddled in a more anxious way than usual, the way he didn't put half as much energy into his jokes as he used to. Both Jason and Piper knew why, but the Roman boy could see that his girlfriend was trying not to bring it up. Jason had never had a lot of tact with comforting people, but Leo was his best friend, and he figured the only way to try and make him talk about it was to just get straight to the point.

"Leo, nothing that's happened has been your fault."

Leo grimaced and Piper shot Jason a 'what the hell?' look, but he hardly noticed. His gaze was set on his troubled best friend.

"I know, man."

"No you don't." Jason insisted, "I know you've been beating yourself up about whats happened, but you couldn't have prevented it, Leo. Just tell us what's going on in your head, dude, stop putting up so many walls. We're your best friends!"

"Jason," Piper warned him, a careful look in her kaleidoscope eyes.

The Latino boy sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead, stressed. "Look, Jason, I know you're trying to help, but if I hadn't opened the fortune cookie when I did-"

"Frank and Hazel would be dead. Leo, you saved their lives." Piper asserted, voice steady.

The son of Hephaestus shook his head and gave a slightly maniacal laugh. "You don't get it Piper! Percy and Annabeth were the sacrifice Nemesis warned me about! It IS my fault, everything is, I'm only causing more crap on this stupid quest. I blew up New Rome for the god's sake, I ruin everything! I'm no amazing hero like Percy or Jason. I'm not intelligent fighter like you or Annabeth or Hazel. Heck, I'm not even good enough to be like Frank! You'd all be better off without me." He spat, voice raised angrily. bitterly. Leo stood up in a huff and kicked the leg of the table, then paced in frustration, tugging at his curly locks.

Jason stared at his best friend who was in such a state of regret and self-hate. He felt useless, not knowing what to do to help out in the situation. Leo had finally cracked. The smiles and the jokes could hide his feelings for a little while, but not forever. He was miserable. How had Jason not noticed before? He was jealous of all of them, all the time, and no one had even realised. Leo resented himself for so much, and had a lot of weight on his shoulders. The blonde boy knew that he must get upset sometimes, but he didn't think it was to this extent. Leo blamed himself for every single bad thing that happened, whether it related to him or not, and he still managed to plaster a smile on his face 24/7. Jason just wanted to know why Leo would think that way.

Piper pushed herself up from the table abruptly, and with surprising force, gripped the front of Leo's motor oil stain t-shirt, and pinned his up against the wall. Leo's caramel eyes were wide in surprise, and slightly with fear. Piper moved her face directly in front of his.

"You listen to me right now, Leo Valdez." Piper told him forcefully. "You are good enough. For everyone. You don't think we blame ourselves for what happened to Percy and Annabeth too? We do. But it's not any of our faults, not even yours. We wouldn't be on this quest in the first place if it wasn't for you. We wouldn't have been able to go on our first quest if it wasn't for you. You built this amazing ship, and you rebuilt Festus. Jason and I would have died one thousand times over if it weren't for you, both on that first quest and this one. You're amazing, Leo. Nothing bad that has happened is because of you, and no one else thinks so either. Your mom's death was because of Gaia, not you, Leo! You're a good person with a great sense of humour, and amazing strength and talent. And you're so brave. We all love you so much, even Frank and Percy- we're a family here, but first and foremost, us three are best friends. Don't listen to the gods and that seventh wheel crap. You will never be an outsider as long as Jason and I have anything to do with it. Okay? Everyone makes mistakes. You're mum doesn't blame you, and neither does anyone else on this ship. We couldn't be here without you Leo. You're important. You're needed."

Jason watched on, his own eyes wide and his mouth half open, desperately grabbing for the right words to say. Leo's eyes, he saw, had filled with tears, and he wiped them away sheepishly, trying not to be noticed. But Jason could still see his lower lip trembling. Piper let go of his shirt but immediately pulled him closer again, this time in an embrace, her tan arms like a vice around the other boy's waist. Leo returned her hug and gripped the back of her jacket, crying quietly into her shoulder. Jason stood there frozen, unsure of what to do. He whole heartedly believed every word Piper had said, but he didn't know what to do to show his own appreciation for Leo.

"Now I'm blubbering like a baby too, thanks Valdez." Piper joked, her voice thick with tears. They both shook with weak laughter and cried while Jason stood there awkwardly. Piper pulled away from Leo, and held his forearms, looking him square in the eye.

"Seriously, though. We couldn't get through any of this without you, Leo." He nodded, still quite shook up from the whole emotional roller coaster.

"Thank you, Pipes. Really." Leo managed to croak out hoarsely. Piper shot him a smile and put her arm around his waist and he draped his over her shoulder. Piper looked at Jason expectantly, so he took a hesitant step forward.

"Don't tell me you have a heartfelt speech in mind too, Sparky, because I'd love to see that." Leo joked quietly, the ghost of a smirk pulling at his lips. Jason chuckled quietly.

"No, I don't. But I just wanted to say that… I agree with everything Piper said. You should give yourself a lot more credit, man- you're awesome. And you'll always be my best friend."

Leo did smile now, a real one, even though his eyes were still sad. Without another word he stepped forward and pulled the son of Jupiter close to him in a hug. Jason stiffened for a moment, surprised at the contact, but eventually relaxed into it, awkwardly wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. It was nice to embrace Leo, Jason thought fleetingly, because he couldn't recall that he had ever hugged his best friend before. The thought made him kind of upset, so he squeezed Leo tighter for a second before patting him on the back and pulling away. They grinned at each other awkwardly.

"Thanks, Jason." Leo said sincerely, fiery amber eyes meeting electric blue. The Roman boy nodded, and the heard a sniffle behind him. Both him and Leo whirled around to see Piper crying again. Jason felt himself smile and beside him Leo laughed and shook his head.

"Really, Piper? Alright, now that we're all emotional, we have to do the cheesy group hug thing. Come on, bring it all in." Leo declared, his arms spread out. Piper smiled weakly and moved into his outstretched arms, as did Jason, and they all clutched each other in a hug.

"Oh gods, this is like some stupid teenage angst movie." Piper commented, breaking the embrace. Leo groaned.

"It really is. Next we'll all break into song about friendship and the hardships of high school."

Jason managed a chuckle. "Let's hope not."

They sat back down at the table where they started, somewhat happier and closer than before.

"It's nice hanging out with you guys again, just us three. I miss it." Piper mused. Leo tugged on her braid and she smacked his hand away. Yeah, everything was back to normal. Though Jason hoped Leo really did listen to what they had said, and started to think a little better of himself.

"I agree. Just the Superman, the Repair Boy and the Beauty Queen. The three amigos." Leo announced with a cheerful grin.

"Great. Hey Leo, anything we could do to bond as besties for the afternoon?" The Cherokee girl asked nonchalantly. Leo nodded.

"Yeah, there's a whole bunch of board games on here. Who's up for a few rounds of 'Guess Who?'"

Piper beamed. "I used to love that game as a kid! Go get it Leo!" She cried, jumping up and down in her seat.

"Alright, alright keep your braid on. You cool with it Jason?"

"I… I don't know what Guess Who even is." Jason admitted, embarrassed. Leo feigned shock and placed a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"We have a lot to teach you, my slightly uneducated Roman friend. A lot."