Len, MultiverseJumper27

he/him

Stop Running, Leo Valdez

Valgrace during the Lost Trio's time at the Wilderness School

Jason Grace x Leo Valdez

No content warnings apply!

1 | Leo

I watch Jason and Piper from a distance, silently fidgeting with some scraps from a ripped piece of paper that sat on his lap. Sometimes I wish Piper didn't go to the Wilderness School, but that's crazy because she's my best friend in the entire world other than Jason. I've watched them trade casual kisses and walk hand-in-hand, hell, they snuck out to go stargazing once. I'm always the third wheel because Jason is the straightest guy out there and he's got Piper. If I disappeared one day I doubt they would notice, they're so caught up in each other.

Maybe that's what I'll do. Disappear. Run. Like I've always done.

I stand up from the bench I've been sitting at, paper falling to the ground. I leave quickly, not being able to bear watching them for another second. I head to my and Jason's dorm, which is where we first met. I have to get out of here, everything reminds me of him, I think to myself. I stuff some clothes and other necessities into a small duffle, there's not much I'll need.

The corner of a picture frame catches my eye. It's a selfie Jason and I took our first day at school. I was an unwilling participant in that photo, but later we decided we loved it so much that we framed it. I let my duffle fall to the ground and pick up the picture. Short golden hair fell into his perfect, blue eyes, the scar on his lip adding a beautiful bit of imperfection to his otherwise perfect face.

I decided I would take this photo with me. I pried the photo out of the frame and stuck it in my pocket. Then, on an impulse, I picked up a Sharpie and scrawled a note on the back of the frame.

Having done what was needed, I picked my duffle back up and left, tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

2 | Jason

After my picnic with Piper, I returned to my dorm, expecting to find Leo there, building something. Instead, I find an empty room, Leo's things scattered around, and our selfie gone. I squint at the frame and see that there's something written on it. I step forward to see the note. It says:

Jace, I'm sorry, but I'm leaving. You have Piper, you don't need me. But when I met you, I knew I had just met one of the best people in the world, you'll never know how much you mean to me. Con Amor, Leo

I knew enough Spanish from listening to Leo, to know that 'con amor' means 'with love'. I love the guy too, but of course, in a completely platonic way, we're practically closer than brothers. I've got to find Piper. She'll know what to do about Leo running away.

◅▻

I found Piper sitting on one of the old couches in the shabby lounge where the three of us often hung out. "Hey, Pipes," I said.

She looked up at me, her eyes shifting colors from brown to green to blue to hazel. "Hi," she responded, sensing my emotions, whatever those may be, maybe fear and sadness and despair, perhaps longing, or maybe I was just numb. There was no way Leo had run away, it had to be one of his pranks, right? He would just pop up from behind the couch, yell, "Boo!" and we would all start laughing. But he didn't. "Jason, look at me. What's wrong?" Piper asked.

"It's Leo." my voice cracked like I was thirteen again. "He's gone. He left."

"Shit," she whispered. "This is bad. Really, really, really bad."

I brought out the frame I had been carrying. "He stole our selfie from the first day and scribbled a note on the back."

She read the note. "This is off-topic, but, stealing a picture of the two of you and this, 'When I met you, I knew I had just met one of the best people in the world, you'll never know how much you mean to me. With love, Leo' business sounds like our bestie here had a little crush. Not that I like people having crushes on my guy. Anyway, where would he have gone?"

"His mom isn't alive, we don't know who his dad is, and the only family that was willing to take him in was his Aunt Rosa, but she was mean to him. So, I think he would find somewhere to work. Probably something where he could build stuff." I'm not sure my brain completely processed Piper's prior statement. It was focused on finding Leo, afterall, I can't lose my best friend, roommate, and one of the only people who can cheer me up on bad days.

Piper took out her phone and looked something up. "We should check all the machine shops around here, and if we can't find him, we should report this." I nodded in agreement. "You can check Welder's Wonderland on fifth, and Machines for All of tenth."

"Okay. We can do this." And this would give me some time to think over why Piper thought Leo had a crush on me.

◅▻

I bit my nails as I walked, a bad habit Leo had helped me stop. My brain went back to the day Leo saw me biting my nails.

I sat at the little desk in our dorm, puzzling over some Science homework and biting my nails. Science has always been my weakest subject. When arms rested on my shoulders and a chin rested softly on my head. I knew who it was, though I could never have suspected he could be this gentle. He was always hyper, so who knew?

"Who knew the perfect Jason Grace has a bad habit?" Leo's voice was soft and tired, which made sense since he had just gotten up from a nap.

"I'm not perfect," I tell him.

"I know. That's why you're so amazing," he says. I blush even though I don't know why. I doubt he even knows what he's saying. When Leo eats a lot of sugar he gets sugar-drunk. He was sleeping it off before, so I assume he's still a bit sugar-drunk since he's not being his usual hyper self. "But, Jace, you really should stop biting your nails. It isn't good for you."

"Mhm..." I say as Leo runs his fingers through my hair

Now I look back on that memory a bit differently, like how good it felt to have his arms wrapped around me, and the feeling of his fingers running through my hair. Maybe I need to think about more of my memories with Leo... but I realize I'm at the first machine shop already. I walk inside and see several people working on different projects. An older man stands up from whatever he's working on and walks towards me.

"How can I help you?" he asked me.

I ask him, "Have you seen a fourteen-year-old Latino boy around here? About yay high." I signal about how tall Leo is.

"Sorry, but I haven't."

I'm disappointed, but it isn't this guy's fault so I just say, "Thank you for your time." Then, I leave. Another memory I hadn't given much credit to resurfaces.

Leo and I are sitting on the lawn. It looks like he's listening as I talk about how electricity works. He watches me intently. "Did you know your eyes are really pretty?" he asks.

"Thanks." I bump his shoulder. "You weren't listening to me, were you?"

He laughs, then looks me in the eye and says, "I will listen to every word you say til' the day I die, and then I'll haunt you." His smile feels like a victory to me. When he arrived he always seemed down, and after I heard his stories about his family and recent life I could understand why. His brown eyes twinkle with amber flecks. "Jace?"

"Yeah?" I respond.

"Promise me you'll never forget about me."

"What?" I ask.

"When you're out there doing amazing things, remember good ol' Leo Valdez." I rarely see this side of Leo, the more vulnerable and empathetic side. I'm pretty sure he thinks when we leave the Wilderness School I'll forget him. He couldn't be more wrong. He's my best friend in the entire world. I love the guy, I admit to myself, I don't know what I would do without him.

"Of course, I'll remember you. Afterall, you're going to be doing amazing things right alongside me." That makes him smile. Suddenly, I decide to hug him. I wrap my arms around his smaller body, it's been a long time since I hugged somebody, and I guess I severely needed a hug. Leo gasps in surprise, but quickly gets over it and wraps his arms around me. "Can you promise you'll never forget me?" I whisper in his ear.

"I swear on everything I've ever loved and will love that I will never forget you," he promises quietly.

The memory dissolves and I think, maybe I'm not as straight as I thought I was. I arrive at the other machine shop I'm supposed to look around, Machines for All, and I enter. A motherly-looking woman waves to me as I enter. She has dark skin and short graying hair. I head towards her.

"Hello, dear," she says in a kindly manner. "How can I help you?"

"Have you seen a small fourteen-year-old Latino guy?" I ask.

"Yes," that one word sends more relief coursing through me than I thought possible a few seconds ago. "He was here asking about a job about an hour and a half ago, but I told him there weren't any open positions."

"Thank you so much!" I rush out of there. I look around the building and the surrounding streets. I text Piper.

YOU:

Pipes

Pipes

PIPER MCLEAN:

yeah?

I've got info

nice!

Meet @ my dorm?

PIPER MCLEAN LIKED A MESSAGE

I start the walk back to school, eventually I break into a jog, and make it back in record time. I sign back in, so the school knows I came back. I head to my dorm, 117, Piper's already there.

"What's the info?" she asks immediately.

"The owner of Machines for All says she talked to him about an hour and a half ago."

"That's good," Piper says.

"Yeah," I agree. I've been thinking about the crush Piper thinks Leo has on me. When I thought back on my memories I realized he definitely acted like it, and I did too, but I just didn't realize it.

"We need to talk," I say, just as Piper says it too. We both laugh awkwardly.

"You first," she orders.

I accept this and tell her, "You're great, but while I sort out this Leo thing, I think we need to not be dating."

"I agree."

"You do?" That's quite surprising.

"Yup. I'm not totally sure I ever like-liked you. I'm not totally sure I've ever like-liked a guy." And she adds, "I think we both need time to think over our shit."

"We should still report Leo being MIA," I remind her.

Piper nods in agreement and tells me, "I'll tell Coach Hedge." I give her a thumbs up and she leaves.

I sigh as I flop onto my bed. Today has been emotionally exhausting on so many levels, but I still have classes tomorrow, so I need some sleep. I might as well start trying now. It's not like I'm going to get more than a few minutes of sleep. Plus, I don't think I could stomach dinner.

Millions of thoughts and feelings fill me as I try to fall asleep. I look at memories I cherish from a much different perspective, but one thing keeps coming back to me. I lay on my side and stare at the shadow of Leo's bed. Usually, I can see the silhouette of his curls or the covers clumped at the end of the bed because he got hot during the night. But tonight all that rests on his bed is unmade blankets. I remember a night that we never spoke of again.

I'm sleeping until I'm not. I feel a tapping on my shoulder and open my eyes to see Leo's silhouette. His hand feels cold and clammy and I hear a sound that sounds like crying, but that can't be right, can it?

He hiccups and whispers, "Can I sleep with you?" In the moment I didn't realize how that sounded.

I sit up and pat the bed beside me. "What happened?" I ask.

"Nightmare." He sinks onto the bed. "My mom."

I decide not to press. His mom has always been a sore subject, he refuses to talk about it more than the fact she was killed. Our beds are twin size, so we were very squished, but for some reason, I'm fine with it. Our breathing syncs and we are calmed by each others presence. I wrap my arms around Leo, his curls tickling my nose. I feel so right.

Yeah, I'd be crazy if I couldn't admit that I definitely like Leo. Well, maybe I'll be able to get some sleep now that I've figured that out. I have already started drifting off when I hear someone opening the window and sneaking in. The floorboards creak and I sit up to see who it is. The person goes towards the light switch like they've done so many times before. I gasp when I see who it is.

"Leo?" I ask.

"Hey, Jace." he smiles sheepishly. I bolt out of bed, cupping his face in my hand.

"How could you? I've been terrified for the past six hours!"

He's surprised by the closeness, but covers it up with a joke, "Aww, you were terrified for little ol' me.

"Yes," I state. I'm looking at Leo intently, waiting for a reaction. I notice how he shifts slightly towards me, as if all he wants to do is be close to me. I would love it if we could be close. "Why did you go?" I ask him as I go to my bed so we can sit down.

"I couldn't leave you." he looks at the ground. "But you have Piper, and eventually you'll forget about me. I'm always the third wheel. You could finally hang out without me."

"Just for the record, Piper and I broke up," I tell him.

"Why?"

"She needed time to figure out her sexuality," I pause, deciding to go for it. "And I like you."

3 | Leo

Yup, those words just changed my life. Jace seriously likes me? We're sitting a few inches apart but I close that space. "I like you too," I tell him.

He leans in, and with barely a hair's space between our lips he waits for me. I close the distance between us, and everything is new and amazing. His slightly chapped lips on mine, his hand on my face, mine on the back of his neck, his soft hair on my fingers. It's like a spark in me has just become a bonfire. We break apart after what feels like forever.

"That was the best," he says. "But I better go find Coach Hedge to tell him you're back."

"Yeah," I agree. I give him a quick peck and tell him, "Go."

He leaves. I shut off the light and lie down on his bed. That was crazy, amazing, but crazy. I fall asleep smiling.

THE END