"And you throw your head back laughing
Like a little kid
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny cause
He never did
I've been spending the last 8 months
Thinking all love ever does
Is break and burn and end
But on a Wednesday in a cafe
I watched it begin again..."
-Taylor Swift
"JASON! Jason, please listen to me!"
Reyna pounded mercilessly on the door to her fellow praetor's villa. Her long, dark hair was a tangled mess, and there were tears streaming down her face. She wore a purple Camp Jupiter shirt and a pair of blue jeans.
"Jason, you can't just lock yourself in there…please come out…"
A voice croaked from inside, "I'm sorry, Rey…I just… she's dead."
Reyna felt her heart tear in two. A sharp pain stabbed her in the stomach and she crumpled to the ground. She bit down hard on her lip, drawing blood, to stop more tears from cascading down her cheeks.
"She… she was just a Greek, Jason. Just a girl. You have to move on. Leo's moved on. Annabeth's moved on. Why can't you?"
"BECAUSE I LOVED HER, REYNA! GOD DANG IT! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?"
Reyna felt another sharp pain in her gut at his words and she let out a low keening sound. If anyone saw her like this… the praetor of Camp Jupiter, a daughter of Bellona; sobbing and begging at the door of Jason Grace's villa, she would be ridiculed for months.
She looked up as the door cracked open. Jason's face peered out the sliver of space that was open. His face was gaunt and graying, his eyes cold and blue. His blond hair was a mess and he looked like he's been missing meals. Her heart throbbed in pity for the boy she loved. He glared down at her, his eyes like chips of ice, cold and unforgiving, piercing her heart.
"Why can't you understand that I loved Piper, Reyna? Because you can't bring yourself to love anyone? Because you're too much of a warrior; too cold and unfeeling to understand how it feels to love someone and have them break your heart?"
There was venom in his words, and she recoiled sharply at the unfamiliar tone.
"Jase—Jason… I loved you. And you were just too obstinate, too caught up in your praetorship, in your new Greek friends and pretty little daughter of Aphrodite to realize it. I've loved you for over a year. I was the one who kept the searches up when Octavian and half the Senate just wanted to declare your dead and hold a funeral. I was the one who tried to give the Greeks a chance at being our friends, even though you came back acting as if you weren't even one of us—as if you'd never been one of us. I was the one who tried to stop the attack on Camp Half-Blood because you had friends there. And I did it because I loved you."
She was standing now, had risen to her feet in the passion of her speech and was panting, staring at Jason, willing him to love her back.
He closed the door.
"I'm sorry, Rey. I just never felt that way about you."
"Don't call me Rey," she spat, and then stormed off. Halfway back to her villa, she collapsed.
She laid there for at least an hour before someone found her.
"Why hello there, Queen—fancy seeing you here."
She looked up at the smirking face of the son of Hephaestus, Leo Valdez.
"What do you want?" She growled, rather weakly.
"Hey! Just delivering a message for Percy and Annabeth. Wanted a chance to come see Jason anyways—he's not doing too well, is he?"
She scowled.
"I suppose not."
He blinked in surprise.
"Is—is something wrong, Quee—I mean, Reyna?"
He held out an oil-stained slender hand. She considered ignoring it, but the road was getting rather uncomfortable. Reaching up she grasped it and he hauled her to her feet.
She looked down at him—he was still unusually short, and her eyebrows creased.
She didn't remember his eyes being that deep of a brown. Like hers, but prettier, really. A lot better than icy blue.
He tried to let go of her hand once she was on her feet, but Reyna clutched his tighter. He looked at her in surprise and then smiled a little bit.
His smile was rather contagious—and she found herself smiling back.
A/N: I don't normally ship Leyna...but when I do I ship angsty Leyna.
Actually, I don't ship Leyna at all, this was just a challenge. Anyways, this was based off of Begin Again by Taylor Swift. :) Hope you enjoyed!
REVIEW. Please?