Oath Kept

Chapter 2

Banter. That's what really succeeds at bringing two people close together. That they can be so comfortable around each other that they can poke fun at one another without offending them. The same is true for Leo and I.

I finally started to warm up to Leo after I realized all of the nice things he was doing for me: fixing my fountain, my tools, my curtains. I know he claims he only did it because it irritates him for things to not work right, but I was sure he wouldn't have done all those things if he actually hated me.

I am baffled that he didn't hate me though. After the way I'd treated him when he unwillingly crashed onto my island. I'm not going to make excuses for the way I acted, but I will explain my reasonings, no matter how stupid.

I was just so peeved with the gods for backing away from the promise to set me free that sending yet another hero to my island tipped me over the edge. I was infuriated with Zeus, Hephaestus, Hermes, and pretty much all of them but the last time they'd made any contact with me was when Hephaestus showed up right before Percy left. I was unable to take out my frustration on them, so I did so on Leo.

Add to the fact that they'd only ever sent me muscular, fit men whose sheer appearances screamed "hero" to my island, then Leo shows up. This scrawny boy didn't attract me at all at first, unlike the others.

So did that make me a little shallow? Yes, it did. But it didn't stop me from falling in love with him, did it?

I actually started to have physical attractions to him before I even liked him. I don't know, it was just seeing him do hard labor, pounding away constantly at the metal. He'd burned off his clothes multiple times and I realized that he had quite strong arms. And the look of concentration on his face, coupled with soot, made him look handsome. And he was literally hot, so there's that.

When I actually began to like him was when I'd made him the set of non-flammable clothes and delivered them to him personally. He'd quipped that I might actually have begun to like him and I returned the quip. It was friendly banter and made butterflies appear in my stomach.

It was comfortable, something that I never had with any of the other guys. They'd known I liked them which made the idea of us actually being together seem so distant.

But with Leo, every feeling we had was mutual. Our dislike for each other was mutual, or warming up to each other was mutual, and our growing interest in each other was mutual. It just felt so right, and I felt no sadness being with him until the moment he left.

I never dreaded his leaving, like was constant with the others. But it may have been because I thought he might not actually be able to leave, even while we were building the boat together. It was only when the raft showed up that the thought of him abandoning Ogygia became real.

In all honesty, I'd looked forward to leaving Ogygia, but I was perfectly happy staying here as long as Leo was with me.

It was only half an hour after we'd landed on Ogygia the second time. We were sitting on the beach, side by side. My head was leaning against his shoulder and we held hands as we stared out at the horizon.

"Hey, Sunshine," Leo said. "What are you thinking?"

"What do you mean?" I said.

"You look thoughtful. What are you thinking about?"

"Just— how comfortable I am."

"Hey," he said indignantly. "My shoulder can't be that soft. I know I'm scrawny, but if there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my biceps."

I gave a short chuckle. "You know what I mean. In general. How comfortable my life is at the moment, how easy it is to live it."

"Are you being philosophical?"

I sighed. "You're an idiot."

"Love you too," he said before leaning over and giving me a peck on the lips.

"You know, that's the first time you've said that to me."

"Well you haven't said it to me at all."

I stood up, not letting go of his hand, forcing him to stand up too. I grabbed his other hand so we were face-to-face and we both leaned in at the same time. Our lips met. We stood there for seconds before I let go of both his hands and wrapped my arms around his neck, he wrapped his arms around my waist. Without even thinking about it, I let my tongue slip into his mouth.

It felt like it lasted an eternity. Finally, I pulled away and we stared into each other's eyes.

"I love you, Flameboy," I said.

"Oh come on, you've got to come up with a better name than that."

"What would you rather I call you?"

"I'm putting Hunk Muffin back on the table."

"Valdez—" I warned.

"Alright, fine. What about Sizzle?"

"Sizzle?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Okay. What about Papi?"

"You want me to call you Papi?"

"Yep. And I can call you Mamacita."

"No."

"Fine, let's hear your bright ideas."

"I think you're over thinking it. Why don't I just call you babe?"

"Are you happy with that?"

"Yes."

"Then fine, Sunshine."

"And I want you to stop calling me Sunshine."

"Why?"

"Because I hate it."

"But you're my Sunshine," he said with a wild gleam in his eyes.

"Valdez, don't."

Leo began singing. "The other night dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms. But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken, so I hung my head and I cried." I pulled my arms from around his neck and pushed him away from me. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey."

"I'm leaving," I said and began walking back to the cave.

Leo chased after me. "You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

I began to jog, so did he.

He was practically shouting now. "I'll always love you and make you happy, if you will only say the same. But if you leave me and love another, you'll regret it all some day."

I entered the cave, Leo right behind me. He backed me into the bed and I sat down, forced to hear out the rest of the song.

"You're a terrible singer," I said with a mischievous smile after he'd finished.

"Let's hear you do better," he said. It wasn't a challenge. I could tell he genuinely wanted me to sing. I obliged, but I didn't sing his song.

I also didn't sing the song that I used to make his device work the last time he was on Ogygia. I sang a happier tune, but still slow and without lyrics.

When I'd finished, Leo had tears in his eyes.

"Aww," I said. "Is my little baby about to cry?"

"Hey," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I said you could call me babe, but I draw the line at baby."

"Sorry, babe."

"Anyway, that was okay," Leo commented.

I punched his arm.

"Alright, fine," he said. "It was good. But nothing compared to me, of course."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Is my sarcasm not good enough for you?" he asked.

"No."

He gave a quick huff. "I, Leo Valdez, am nowhere near as good a singer as Calypso, who has the greatest voice there ever was because she's just that amazing and probably didn't cheat using her sorceress powers." He said in one breath.

I stood and wrapped my arms around his neck and planted my mouth on his. Then I leaned back and we fell onto the mattress together. Maybe ten minutes passed when he finally retracted from the kiss and rolled over to the right side of the bed.

"Goodnight, Sunshine," he said.

"Can you please not call me that?" I said.

"Calypso, you're my sunshine. And from now on, every time you tell me not to call you Sunshine, I'll start singing again."

"Oh gods no."

"Consider yourself warned."

I rolled onto my side, smirking and then fell asleep.

I woke up to see Leo still asleep. I got up and opened one of my suitcases, drawing out a white sleeveless dress. Ever since Leo showed me the practicality of t-shirts and jeans, those were all I wore, but I did miss my old fashion choice. I also grabbed a towel and a bar of soap that I made myself and left the cave.

I traveled along the side of the hill that my cave home was dug into until I found a second cave which was a bathroom, complete with plumbing, courtesy of Hephaestus.

I turned the water in the tub on and then undressed before gingerly stepping in. My invisible servants whisked my old clothes away.

Fifteen minutes later, I was cleaned and dressed and walked back toward the cave. Leo had woken and was fidgeting with some materials until he noticed me.

"Whoa, flashback," he said. When I got close enough, he gave me a peck on the lips.

"Don't you like it?" I asked.

"Sweety, you look perfect in everything."

I blushed at the compliment. "Am I 'Sweety' now?"

"What? Can't a man give his girlfriend multiple nicknames?"

"Boy," I corrected. He glared at me.

He was about to make a retort when his eyes lit up and he spotted something behind me. I turned around to see a column of flame on the horizon, quickly making its way toward us. Finally, it stopped twenty feet away from Leo and I and the flames died away, revealing a burly man.

"Dad?" Leo said.