The pounding sound of electric guitar just did something to Thalia, that nothing else could. It made her feel alive, adrenaline pounding through her veins, drenched in sweat as the words left her mouth. They screamed them along with her, just them. This was how life was supposed to be, full of craziness and just loving what she was doing, and holy fucking hell did Thalia love singing. Finally the song ended and Thalia cheered at the top of her lungs as her audience did along with her.
"Thank you! So much for coming to see us! We love you!" she yelled and the audience screamed in response, she felt the laugh bubble up from her chest and looked to make eye contact with her best friend, and guitar player, Reyna. The quiet girl grinned over at her in that way that made Thalia's insides do a back-flip and feel weak at the knees.
"See you guys next time!" she cheered to the crowd as the lights went down and finally, the concert had come to an end.
Reyna breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she entered her and Thalia's apartment. Sure, she loved concerts and the rush of playing her guitar in front of a crowd as much as the next person, but all those people and crowds was enough to completely drain the dark haired girl. Especially when they all yelled those questions at her after leaving. She didn't blame them for asking them, she was quite obvious, but that didn't mean that her friends knew, and she never confirmed them when asked the questions during interviews, but they still stung.
"Are you gay?!" they asked "do you have a crush on Thalia?!" they chanted, "You and Thalia are dating right?!" they screamed at her during the concerts, and Reyna had to resist the urge to run off stage and curl into a ball. The yells still wrung in her ears as she closed her bedroom door and pulled the blanket over her head.
"Are you gay?!" the words kept repeating themselves to her. Again and again and again. gay, gay gay Gay GAy GAY. GAY. GAY. GAY. GAY. That word. Reyna focused on her heart beat.
"Breathe," she reminded herself quietly. "Breathe,"
"You're disgusting!" she heard the words, the voice, oh god. That voice she had tried so hard to forget. The pain in her left cheek from a scar that would never leave. "You disgrace me child!" the voice said again and Reyna forced herself to breathe. Breathe.
"Reyna?" a voice broke into her thoughts and she slowly poked her head out from the covers, the room was dark, the only light was coming from the doorway that was left slightly ajar. There she stood, the embodiment of everything Reyna had tried so hard not to let herself become. Thalia Grace. Wild, reckless, beautiful, talented, caring, open and honest, Grace. The girl who she was head over heels for, and yet, she was oblivious as a friking boulder. Thalia gently walked over to the bed and rested a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"You know that they don't know what they're saying," the girl whispered, as if reading Reyna's mind. "They just make an assumption, and take it too far. It's okay," she gently assured, but Reyna just turned to look at the ground.
"It's just... I don't like being the center of attention Thalia, you know that." she muttered and Thalia laughed softly.
"Trust me, I remember middle school. They tried to get you to give a speech for the student body, and you were so nervous you looked like a wet tomato," the blue eyes girl teased and Reyna couldn't help, but smile.
"You weren't much better, if my memory is correct," she gently nudged the older girl. Thalia just grinned proudly.
"It was a simpler time," she said wistfully and lay an arm across Reyna's shoulders.
"listen, they don't know what they're talking about, so don't listen to them. you're still Reyna friking Ramirez-Allreno, and everyone knows that. And so what if you were gay?! You're still my best-friend, and nothing will ever change that. I promise," she told the dark eyed teen and ruffled her hair affectionately. Reyna felt her heart beat twice as fast, and she smiled softly at her blue eyed friend. She didn't understand what Reyna had gone through, or why she feared that godforsaken word so much, and yet she truly did understand what she needed in that moment. Maybe that's why she liked her so much. Maybe that's why she needed her.
Times were tough right in this moment. Reyna couldn't bare the thought of doing it all over again the next day. More singing, more pretending not to hear the questions, more screaming. More, more, more. More of all this godforsaken confusion. She wanted to run, to hide, to do anything, but face those rumors. Face that crowd. Face those fans that screamed the same questions she asked herself on a daily basis. Nothing, nothing in the entire universe could prepare Reyna for this. Nothing could free her from it either. because as much as it hurt, as it pained her, as it made her want to scream, she just couldn't stop. Not for anything. Not for Thalia. Because for every scream, for every question, for every little shred of her childhood that was unearthed, there was Thalia. Thalia and her aura of joy, of happiness, of just pure, reckless, love. And Reyna was trapped, trapped in that web of reckless love. Trapped in Thalia.