Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus series, RR does.

Suggested listening: P!nk ft. Nate Ruess - Just Give Me A Reason

A Reason

He had packed his stuff. Clothes were lying on the floor, abandoned, because he hadn't really needed them all when he had been leaving hurriedly. She was sitting on the bed in the bedroom (their shared bedroom, for some last time), holding one of the T-shirts he'd left. The house felt more empty than it had ever had.

He was sitting in his workshop on Argo II's deck, for once silent and motionless. He didn't even feel like working on whichever of his inventions. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her crying face, lips tight when she had desperately been trying to calm herself down. "What the fuck's happened..?" he muttered to himself, his voice breaking.

X

He was sitting near the Camp Half-Blood lake's shore, staring at the stars. Could Calypso see them too..? He heard somebody coming and turned around to check who that was. His eyes met the praetor of New Rome, Reyna, in her full armor. She looked at him coldly and stood on the shore a few meters from him before saying "Thank you"

He frowned. "What are you thanking me for?" he asked, surprised. She looked at him, seeming to be examining him (to check if he could still be a threat for her camp?).

After a few moments of silence, she spoke "You saved the world, shouldn't I be grateful for that?" Her black eyes were shining in the moonlight.

He chuckled bitterly. "I'm just a repair-boy, no heroic acts here. Sorry to disappoint you" he smiled at her sadly. "But you, on the other hand, did hella lot of a great job" he added. "It's not like every demigod could just go to Greece alone and come back, dragging Athena Partenos behind"

She shook her head. "I wasn't alone. And, anyway, was there any other way? Anybody would have done the same in my place" she countered, crossing her arms on her chest.

He shrugged. "Dunno, I'm impressed, anyway" he said, noticing a ghost of smile on her lips.

X

It hurt to think about her, to recall all they'd been through during the past few months. On their own, first, but then trying to get used to thinking about themselves as of a two. It hurt to remember the first smiles he'd managed to make her show, his sleepless nights, single-handedly debating her and Calypso, the time they spent together, their first kiss, their- NO. His heart had already hurt like a bleeding wound, why was he only making it more painful? And the worst thing of all: he had no idea what made her break up with him.

She was laying on the couch, freezing in spite of being covered by two blankets. If he had been there, he could have warmed her up… She shut her eyes and tried to focus on her praetor duties waiting for her the next day. Of course she had to remember how he'd used to come and interrupt her official meetings, making Octavian freak out. She smiled to herself but the smile disappeared immediately when she remembered it could only be considered past then. Don't cry, don't cry, you'd already cried enough…

He couldn't anymore. Nothing made him pleased those days. It was raining all the time even though the sun had been shining constantly. He'd been avoiding his friends, wanting to slip out of the fire of inconvenient questions (him slipping out of the fire? How pathetic.). He'd felt like a ghost of himself more than he'd ever felt. He was just fucking miserable. He had to know why she'd done that. If he couldn't convince her to change her mind, maybe at least he'd understand.

X

She heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" she tried to call, but her voice betrayed her, giving out only a quiet hoarseness. "What is-?" she gasped when she recognized her guest from her place on the couch. Leo was looking her in the eyes and she shivered, sensing the pain in his orbs. So similar to that of her own…

"I miss you, reina…" he blurted out, coming near. She felt tears making their way to her eyes. No, be strong. Your decision had been hurtful but only right. Right..?

She kept silent, so he made his way to the opposite side of the couch carefully and sat there, looking at her longingly. "Don't you… Don't you feel anything about what had happened..?" he asked quietly. Her heart was stabbed by yet another blade of pain.

She cleared her throat and lowered her eyes. She couldn't keep her composure with those orbs of his staring at her, pleading for another chance. (He hadn't said anything yet, but she'd already knew what he wanted.) "It's true, that… That you were an important part of my life…" she said, putting stress on the past form of the verb. She remembered what he'd brought to her existence: ability to have fun and not care what the others would say (well, to certain extent, the praetor still couldn't let herself take part in a scandal of any kind), carefree laugh that made even the most gloomy day beautiful and warmth. He'd not only fixed her broken mechanisms, he'd also reminded her what it felt like to be truly at home.

Why was she making it only harder for herself..?

She felt her throat tighten even more. "I just don't want to stand in the way of your happiness, Leo" she whispered.

"You are my happiness, Reyna" she heard him answer hoarsely. She shook her head.

"I know it's not true, you don't need to lie" She felt like crying again. Gods, when would that stop?

"I lie? I think you are lying, trying to deny our… Our feelings!" he whined angrily. Just the choleric Leo she'd known… She made herself look him in the eyes. They were shining with the fire he had inside of him, glints of tears and anger visible in them too. She could read him like a book by then.

"I know you love her, Leo" she said in a voice that felt too cold even for herself. His eyes widened.

"Who? Please remind me who I love more than the girl that literally drives me crazy, Reyna" he said ironically. Her eyes started reflecting a mix of fury and sadness.

"Calypso" she said in an emotionless voice. His eyes widened again.

"Calypso..?"

"Yes, Calypso" He stared at her, his jaw dropped and his face showing nothing but clear confusion. After a while, he swallowed and looked her in the eye with a serious look in his orbs.

"Why do you think so?" he asked quietly, calmly. "How do you even know about what's happened between me and her? I've never told anyone" She smiled humorlessly.

"She told me" she answered. "When you brought her back, she told me everything. She told me what's happened" The room felt even colder than it had before he came.

He lowered his head and chuckled maliciously. "And you believe her more than me?" he asked, looking at her with severe eyes.

She put the book she'd still been holding on the coffee table. "No" she answered after a moment of silence. "But you'd been... You'd been talking in your sleep, before you went to Ogygia" His eyebrows furrowed. She continued, trying not to admire how expressive his face was, in comparison to her own. "I woke up one night and you were talking to her... Calling to her..." So longingly, that she didn't add. "At first I didn't mind but then... It happened again. And again" she broke off, having to deal with a wave of grief that made her want to cry on his shoulder until she calmed down. She couldn't do that, obviously.

He snorted gloomily. "That's why you were so reluctant to let me go..?" It sounded more like a statement than a question. She nodded.

"Yeah" she whispered. She felt a sudden need to fully open up to him, to tell him all about her feelings and thoughts. It was risky, could leave her defenseless and scarred even more. But, on the other hand, she wanted to believe he could make her feel better again, like he'd done in the past. She'd always been the hopeless case that believed in bullshit, why not continue the tradition? "Because I knew by then that you'd leave me when she came back" she added faintly after a moment of hesitation.

Suddenly, he laughed, the strangest laugh she'd ever heard, more like a cry of a hurt animal. "I came back" he said when he'd finally calmed down "And I stayed. You left me, Reyna" his voice broke.

She felt a tear fall down her cheek. Damn it. "I saw how happy you were when you returned from that stupid island! I saw how you were looking at her!" she shouted, tears blocking her throat. "Do you really think I'm as stupid as to not know what that means?!"

In a blink of an eye, she'd found herself pinned to the couch with Leo above her, panting heavily, fighting back tears. "I swore on River Styx that I'd come back for her, Reyna! Don't you think one'd be happy after fulfilling such a promise?!" he broke off, just looking at her with his sad, sad eyes. She hated when he was sad. "Reina..." he murmured, taking a wisp of hair from her eyes "Please, just please give us another chance... Can you do that?" he asked quietly.

"Get off" she just said emotionlessly and his heart sank. He sat on the couch, feeling like a ghost, not really present in that place. After all, he was foreign there since then, right..?

"I'm sorry..." he gulped, failing to suppress the tears anymore "I'm sorry that I took your time and-"

She hugged him.

Actually, it wasn't a hug.

It was a desperate want to link their bodies forever and never have to be apart again. Oh, how stupid she was for letting him go.

"I-I'm sorry" she choked out, her breath wheezy. "I'm sorry for overinterpreting things and for being so stupid and for- Just-!" she was feeling the familiar touch of his curls under her fingers, could smell his inimitable scent and feel the warmth of his body "Gods, I love you so much..!" she finished, all strength leaving her. He kept her in his strong arms, not saying anything, until she calmed down. Then he pulled away a bit, only as much as to see her eyes.

"I'm glad to have you back, reina... You don't even know how much..." he smiled sadly at her and she sobbed at the sight, pulling him to herself again.

"I do, Leo... I do..."

ZJeM, 01.01.14

From author:

Shitty little one, because... Well, dunno what got me to write it. O_O Drama's flowing like a wild river and Reyna's a softie again (on the other hand, who wouldn't be with our Latino cutesy, right? XD). Well, gotta live with it (dunno if I'm happy about that, really)...

THANKS FOR READING!