tobcoholic

[tobcoholic]

You make me feel like a fool

'friends to lovers' - Luke Castellan x neutral!Athena!Reader

words: 1.3k

summary: Luke has had you absolutely infatuated with him, to the point you can't concentrate cause he's all you think about even during capture the flag.

warnings: the use of 'beautiful' but meant in a neutral way, fluff :)

posted on: 28/02/24, Wednesday -> unedited !

—

'blessed with intelligence'—that's what everyone always said about you, one of Athena's greatest prides. Always as quick on your feet as you are with ideas, but one idea has been stuck in your head.

Your mind has been occupied by Luke for as long as you can remember. Things don't register as fast, things don't make much sense, and you feel like a fool. Simple tasks feel like navigating through a labyrinth blind, once earning praise as Athena's pride to struggling to puzzle sentences together when he walks past.

The other kids have noticed you staring at Luke at lunch with so much thought as if he were a puzzle to be solved. The Stoll brothers took notice and took it upon themselves to tell Luke. He turns his head to look at you, and you look away, though you had been looking at him like a fool.

"Hello? Are you even listening to me?" Annabeth snaps her finger in front of your face, making you turn to look at her without a single clue of what she's been saying.

"Of course, I have." "Of course, you have. What's our game plan for capture the flag then?"

You fix your posture; taking time to figure out what she could've planned. Annabeth raises a brow, some kids snicker while the others groan, "Uhuh, I can tell you've been listening."

—

"You know what you're doing?" Annabeth asked while looking at Luke before glancing at you for a moment.

"Yes ma'am." "Hey, today feel like a winning kind of day to you?" "I'll see you on the other side."

Luke walks away with you, following right beside him. You two have been good friends for a while; never in aeons would you ever think that you'd fall head over heels in love with him. But Aphrodite had other plans for you. You just looked at him one day and went 'oh', every step feels like it's getting heavier and heavier. The pride and joy of Athena now reduced to a teenager fumbling over a boy.

On the other hand, Luke has been infatuated by you for a long time. Your intelligence was the first thing he noticed—the way your brows furrow when you're thinking or the way you stick your tongue out slightly when you're concentrating or how you're always 3 steps ahead. Hell, he knew how you liked your orange to be peeled. He has always found the way you think and solve things very amusing—every single small detail.

Not long after the not-so-relaxing walk, you found yourself fighting alongside Luke, adrenaline taking over everything. The rhythm of your heart could be heard by everyone, but a lingering distraction tugged at the edges of your focus—Luke's presence by your side.

Not having your head in the fight did have consequences. You were knocked to the ground and had your sword ripped from you, but you swept their leg fast enough for them to lose their balance. Making sure you have enough time to grab your sword and leave them vulnerable on the ground. "We surrender!" the group leader shouted with her hands up, the others put down their weapons, going through with their surrender. You were constantly shoved to the ground, hit with the blunt side of people's swords, and so on throughout the entire game until Luke managed to capture the flag. Winning the game.

Bruises were forming on your legs and arms, and the familiar taste of metallic in your mouth. You looked like an absolute wreck, Luke took one look at you and winced as a response.

"They really put you through it today, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they did. Pride of Athena, who? Not me that's for fucking sure." you muttered, wiping the blood off the cut on your lip.

"Come on, let me take you to the clinic."

And so there you two were, at the clinic while the others celebrated their win. Luke rests against the door frame, patiently waiting for you to get that cut cleaned up. Once you were done, the two of you just sat right outside of the clinic. Watching how the moon reflects on the water while you look out over the lake. For once, everything felt peaceful. Everything felt like it was back to normal, no fighting monsters, no getting killed during quests. Just at home.

"So are you going to tell me how you got your ass kicked out there?" Luke tilted his head to make eye contact with you. He had never seen anything as beautiful as your eyes, and the moonlight just made them even better. Did he love you because you were attractive or did he think you were attractive because he loved you? He fell in love with you like raindrops falling from the sky, without knowing why.

"My head wasn't in the game; I was just thinking about other things. I'm fine." "We aren't playing two truths and one lie. Why have you been so out of it?"

You've been 'so out of it' cause you felt like a fool for being head over heels in love for some Hermes kid. What would your mother think? What would everyone think? What would he think? The thought of him looking at you differently already makes you want to tear yourself apart into tiny little pieces since you couldn't tear him apart like an idea. You've been so used to being able to tear people apart, learn about them, and use what you've learned to your advantage. But he's different, he was like the end of a ducktape that you can't find, he was like trying to put loose thread into a needle, he was like trying to puzzle a scent to a place. It felt impossible.

"You make me feel like a fool, Castellan." You pull your knees up to your chest, only the gods know what possessed you to say everything you were about to say.

"What?" Luke chuckled, raising a brow at you.

You stood up abruptly, pacing back and forth in front of him, "You make me feel like a fool waiting for you to talk to me or to smile at me or to interact with me or to even look at me! Gods, just your presence alone is enough to make me fumble!" your hands were all over the place, making gestures to get your point across.

Luke stood up and gently grabbed your hands, stroking them to get them to stop shaking. The way he held your hands with so much care made your brain cry while your heart muttered, 'I'm home'. "Keep going, I'm listening." "I saw that smile and suddenly every single thought was about you."

Luke reached up to touch your face, his thumb caressing your oh-so-perfect face as he leaned in slightly to brush a strand of hair away from your face before placing that hand to cup your face.

"My beautiful, beautiful, y/n. You've completely fallen for me, haven't you? But you aren't the only one who feels like a fool. Everytime your name slips out of someones mouth, my knees go weak." He whispered with that smiled that you fell for plastered on his face. You couldn't help but smile and nod at his words. He pulled you into a kiss, removing one hand from your cheek to place it behind your head as an attempt to deepen the kiss and keep you close to him. There are a million ways to bleed and you'll always be his favorite way.

Luke grabbed your hand and placed it over his beating heart, "I swear on the river Styx that I will put the world at your feet. I will love you as long as I love."

He thinks about you constantly, consistently, continually, you.

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