Leo's POV (4 months later)

I arrived at school early, it's one of those days that miracles happen.

Anyways, there was my beautiful boyfriend waiting for me in front of my locker. I went behind him and covered his eyes with my hands, "Guess who?" I said.

"I hope it's my annoying boyfriend and not some sick pervert," Nico answered, a playful smile on his face. I laughed, "Yes it's me, Angel. A sick pervert? Really?

He laughed too, "What? It can happen! You better prepare yourself."

I placed my arm around his shoulder, "You're right Neeks, you always need to watch out for the old fat pervert men," He rolled his eyes, "Now you're the one exaggerating"

We walked and saw Piper, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank talking to each other, we approached them. "Hey guys! How are you on this wonderful day?" I said, cheerfully. Nico just nodded at them as saying 'Sup.

"Hi! We were just talking about our classes" Hazel said, smiling brightly seeing how happy her brother was now.

"I was just pretending I understood everything they said," Percy said casually. Annabeth rolled her eyes but there was a small smile on her face, "Of course you didn't understand Seaweed Brain"

We laughed, and started talking about random things until it was time for class.

(Skip school)

While we were walking out of the school, Nico and I were deciding which house to go, mine or his. "You came at mine yesterday Lee, is your turn."

"But yours is bigger!" I complained, "I already told my mom tomorrow you'll come and today I go to yours!" Nico groaned, "Fine, but I like yours better,"

"Don't worry Angel, tomorrow you'll come to my house. We can help mamá to do our famous Valdez's Tacos!" I reassured him. He smiled, "I like that"

We went to the sidewalk to go to Nico's house, when I heard a dog barking, it was Festus. I know it could be any other dog, but I know how my dog barks, even his barks were desperate. "Woah! What's wrong boy? Why did you come here?" I asked, trying to calm down Festus.

He continued barking and started running, "Hey! Festus wait! Come Nico!" I took his hand and we ran, following Festus.

I recognized the way Festus was running, we were heading to my house, but why? Why is Festus so distressed?

Then I saw it, smoke. I got scared and let go of Nico's hand, running faster.

The smoke came from my house, there was a fire, the neighbors were outside, staring at the house in flames, I tried to find my mother, but she wasn't outside, which means....

"Mamá!" I yelled and started running to the fire, but Nico stopped me, "Leo no! You can't enter! Someone already called the firefighters, they'll fix it!"

I looked at him, "Nico, my mom is inside, I won't stay here and wait for the firefighters to come," I freed myself and entered the house. "Leo wait!" I heard Nico yell, but I ignored it. My mom is inside, she needs me.

There were flames everywhere, I could barely see. Smoke entered my lungs fast and I coughed, "Mamá! Where are you!" I yelled.

"Leo!" I heard a voice, it was weak, but I knew it was my mom. It came from the engine room, I immediately ran there and tried to open the door but it was stuck, I hit it, kicked it, slammed myself but it didn't open, "Mamá! Don't worry I'll get you!" I screamed, desperate to save my mother.

Then I heard it, a scream. A scream full of pain then silence, "No! Mamá! Hang on! Please! Please just hang on! I'm coming!" I yelled. But vision was getting cloudy and it was getting harder to breathe, there was a lot of smoke in my lungs, making me cough. Part of the roof fell beside me, sending me flying, and hitting my head.

Black spots invaded my vision, my eyes started to drop, "Mamá....no...please" I whimpered.

.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-  was the last thing I heard, "M-mamá..." I whispered, and it all went black.

***
I woke up with a huge headache, I groaned, "W-where am I?" I whispered to myself. I looked around, I was in a hospital, on a bed. I saw Nico sitting on a chair beside, grabbing my hand, looking down..

"N-Nico?" I asked, a little louder. He looked up, there were tears falling from his eyes, "Oh my god Leo!" He screamed and hugged me tightly, I hugged back weakly, my head hurt too much, "Nico, w-what happened?" I asked, breaking the hug.

"Oh Lee-lee, the doctor said you hit your head and almost get a concussion, the firefighters got you and Esperanza out, but-"

I interrupted him, "Mamá! Where is she?! Is she okay?!" I asked, desperate to know if my mom is okay. Please let her be ok, oh God please.

Nico got tears in his eyes again, "I-I'm so s-sorry Lee-lee." I was confused and worried, "Sorry? What do you mean? Nico, tell me what happened" I said.

Nico shook his head, "They took you out first.They took too much time to get her out, and when they did, they said" he started crying.

I sat up and put my hands on his shoulders, I was very worried now, "Nico look at me, look at me." He slowly looked at me, "What. Happened" I said firmly.

He got tears again, "She's gone Leo, she's gone"

"Who?" I asked desperately, please no, not her.

"Your mom's gone, I'm sorry" Nico said, and started crying again.

My vision clouded, Nico's cries sounded underwater. Mamá, no... I stared at my hands, no tears came. Everything felt numb. A doctor came, he probably was hearing all along, "Hi Leo, I'm doctor Steve, I came here to check your head and answer some questions if you have. I looked up at him, my eyes lifeless, and looked at my hands again.

"H-how did i-it h-happened..." I asked so quietly I'm surprised he heard it.

The doctor sighed, "The reports say a car motor exploded it, it was close to many flammable materials, so the fire started very quick, the heat melted parts of the door, making it impossible for your mom to get out. The motor was in repairs, not finished. It overheated, causing the explosion"

I tensed, "W-which car w-was it?" There were two cars, my mom was repairing a yellow one, I was repairing a red one. I got tired and said I'll finish repairing it the day after tomorrow, because the next day I was going to Nico's house. I refused to let my mom repair it, she already worked too hard. The doctor said, "The red car was the one that exploded, the motor wasn't fully repaired."

My eyes got full of tears, it was my fault, if I had finished repairing that stupid car, my mom would still be here. It's all my fault. My mom was dead because of me.

I started sobbing then, Nico rushed to hug me, trying to calm me down. But it didn't work, I just kept sobbing. My mom was gone, she was there for me when no one was. She was everything to me, my motivation to go to school, because I wanted to get a good career so my mom wouldn't work anymore. But I killed her, I got lazy and said that I could repair the motor later, I didn't notice the cables misplaced, that the motor was heating. It was my fault.

***
A week passed, and the doctors said that my head was better, and my lungs didn't have smoke anymore. But since I didn't have a dad and I wasn't legally an adult, they put me in foster care.

Nico was helping me packed, it was silent. I haven't spoken since that day. "At least you won't change school," Nico said, trying to sound cheerful, I just sadly looked at him, and continued packing the belongings that survived the fire. "I'll help you get through it Lee, you won't be alone" he said reassuringly, I nodded, remembering the last thing my mom said to me '.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-' I love you. That was the last thing she said. I started crying, it was normal now, suddenly crying, but Nico never judged, always there to comfort me.

After I calmed down, we went to the entrance of the hospital, where a social service worker was, his name was Mark, with blue eyes and black hair, a social worker shirt, jeans and shoes. He was with a woman that looked to be in her 30s, blonde hair styled nicely, her icy blue eyes, she was dressed like an assistant of does movies, but scarier. Her eyes looked at me up and down, like I was her property. She looked strict and harsh. Nico took my arm and pulled me closer to him, noticing how the scary woman looked at me. I didn't care about her, I just wanted my mom.

"Hello Leo," Mark said, "I like you to meet your new foster mom, Teresa Wilkes"

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Hi! Hope you guys like it! This was a quick chapter so I apologize if some things didn't make sense. Thanks for reading! See ya!

-Susy_Valdez21 (1568 words)