A.N.: So here's the next chapter. I don't have a lot to say… well, I did post a new oneshot of Thaluke and slight Thalico called Dead in the Water, earlier, so you could check it out. I'm working on the next chapter for What to Expect When You're Expecting: Demigod Edition, but I'm suffering from a serious case of writer's block. Like, I know what I want to happen, but it's not coming out right. I feel like it's too expected, but I promise to have it out as soon as I think it's fit for my readers' eyes. You guys are so loyal and good and deserve a truly kick ass chapter, not some half-hearted cheap drabble with no plot. So I'm trying here, I promise. Anyways ,enjoy!

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to tell you that I don't own PJO?

Four: Reyna PoV

How long could it take for Leo Valdez to figure out whether or not he could help me piece the remains of my life back together? I mean, honestly, I did not want to have to spend another night in Motel California. No thank you.

I waited anxiously in Celeste's, absentmindedly twirling around and around in my red leather chair at the breakfast bar. I was pretty sure that the owners were getting a little tired of my presence. I mean, I bought a water every once in awhile, and around lunchtime I'd ordered a club sandwich, but besides that, I was taking up a seat.

Well, too bad. It wasn't like there were lots of options of time killing activity in this admittedly small town. They would have to deal with it.

I drilled my fingernails on the counter and finally gave in to my urge. Taking out my cell, I dialed up the number written in slightly smudged sharpie on my palm.

Leo Valdez better pick up his goddamn phone, or I was going to have to kill him for leaving me hanging like this.

The phone rang three times on the other end. On the fourth ring, I was ready to scream. Thankfully, it picked up, saving me from making an absolute fool of myself in the middle of some small town diner. I didn't plan on staying, but I didn't want to be remembered as some crazy psychopath that led out frustrated shrieks in public.

"Hola," Leo answered, his voice breezy.

"Hola to you too. What's the deal, Valdez?" I demanded.

"Christ, who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?" he asked, still undaunted.

"Valdez, stop fooling around. What's the deal with helping me. I'm going to shoot myself if I see one more high school couple making out in the corner booth, I swear," I told him seriously.

"Come over to the garage. I got some time. You're lucky I finished those last two replacements as fast as I did," he suggested, and I could almost see his easy grin.

"Alright," I sighed, getting up. The waiter gave me a look and I smiled sheepishly, tucking the phone into my pocket and dashing out the door.

My sandaled feet slapped against the pavement as I ran down the block, the hot California sun beating down on my back. My hair was starting to get wispy around my face, fly-away strands swaying in the warm.

In seconds, I flew in the door of the garage, the door banging against the wall, causing the bell to jostle loudly. Beckendorf gave me a cautious glance. I winced.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I'm just… excited."

"Could've fooled me," he commented sarcastically.

"Don't be a bully," I told him firmly, and without permission, I continued on into the garage.

The air smelled like gasoline and oil, and the hum of engines met my ears in a loud buzz. I spotted Leo straightening up from working on a bright red vintage Firebird. My mind doesn't miss the fact that he definitely has good taste in cars. I was a sucker for anything vintage, and the Firebird was no exception. Plus the red… was kind of a hot color for a car. Better than my Cadillac's sleek silver.

"Valdez!" I yelled, weaving my way through various cars being worked on and stacks of tires and scattered tool kits.

"You got here fast," he remarked, slinging a rag over his shoulder.

I ignored him. "So?"

"Vivaldi, if you weren't in such a rush to get out of here, maybe you could've waited long enough for me to actually ask my old man," he replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm going right now, okay? He's right over there. I'll be back in five minutes tops. Don't freak out while I'm gone. If you destroy Marilyn… I will have to kill you."

"You named your car Marilyn?" I inquired skeptically, cocking an eyebrow as he walked past me.

"Marilyn Monroe is her full name. After the sexiest girl that ever lived," he corrected shamelessly, his voice echoing through the garage. None of the other mechanics looked surprised as his unabashed behavior. I guess when you worked with him, you got used to it.

I didn't think I'd ever adjust to him. He was the first guy I'd really talked to since I'd told him I was going to the bathroom two days ago.

It had been a long time since I'd thought about Jason. Well, a few hours.

I was getting good about not thinking about it.

But that didn't make it not real.

Let me tell you some things about Jason Grace.

He was tall, and the kind of golden tan that comes with lots of sunlight and surfing. His hair was blond, but not dyed blond, and closely cropped, and it never looked messy. Unless you counted the I-just-woke-up messy that it had after the three of us had slept over one of our houses when we were younger, or when he came to school only half awake. His eyes were clear, sky blue that made me want to sit down in a nice patch of sunlight and daydream my life away. And I wasn't the only one. Girls flocked him like flies flocked honey. But he never paid them much attention, except for the polite declines of dates that he dealt out each time some new sophomore asked him what he was doing on Friday night. Because Friday nights were our night. The three of us would go to the beach in my Cadillac and go swimming, the music booming loudly from my nearly blown speakers.

Of course, I didn't realize I was in love with him until we were ten years old, and all of the sudden his smiles seemed more special, his eyes got bluer, and every look he gave me, no matter how unimportant, seemed to matter to me. I collected those moments, those looks, and those smiles, and packed them up in a little box in the back of my mind. But I didn't tell anyone. Least of all her. I was afraid that if I told her, she would laugh, because the three of us were best friends, and it would be weird. At that age, we still thought a lot of boys had cooties.

I should've known better. The longer I kept it locked up inside, the more I had started to deny what was happening right in front of me. I'd missed all those glances he'd cast her way, the way he always picked her up first on Fridays or when he drove us to school.

The whole time I'd been in love with him, he'd been in love with my best friend.

Piper McLean.

She was the girl who didn't have to try to be pretty. She had hair that was like caramel, and she always it across the crown of her forehead to keep it out of her eyes. She was Cherokee, which gave her skin an earthy, cinnamon tone that stayed tan all year round. She was a little bit hippie, with quirky hair ties and beaded bags and grungy flare jeans. But it was just part of her, and made you love her even more. Everyone loved her. More importantly, Jason Grace loved her in a way he had never loved me. She was impossible to hate.

Which was what made it so hard.

As much as I wanted to hate them, I couldn't. Because they were still my best friends, and they'd been my best friends since second grade when we'd gotten stuck sitting next to each other in cranky Mrs. Richards' class. They had always been the source of such good things in my life, it was so hard to believe that they were the bad nightmare I was running away from. All of the sudden my careful grip on my life had been jerked from my hands when they'd told me that day when I met them at the party.

I wondered if she'd been able to tell that I wanted to throw up when she'd told me. I could still remember the moment in perfect clarity.

"Rey!" she shouted, smiling ecstatically. She'd braided feathers into her hair and twisted it up into an elaborate top-knot, and huge peace sign earrings dangled from her ears. She stood, and I noticed how Jason's hand fell to his side. He smiled at me.

They had been holding hands.

My stomach clenched, and released, and my mind shook with the impossibility of it. I swallowed.

"You'll never believe it," she continued as she approached me and enveloped me in a hug. "He finally got the guts up to say it! I can't believe it. I feel like I could die from being happy!"

"He?" I asked, my heart skidding in my chest. The air had been sucked from my lungs, and it was hard to breathe.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

No.

"The one and only Jason Grace is my boyfriend," she confirmed, nodding and smiling. She grabbed my hands and squealed like girls did in the movies. I forced a smile onto my face and hoped I looked genuine as I jumped up and down with her.

But inside? Beneath the false, assuring smile I'd granted them, my mind was spinning. My world had been knocked off its axis.

For so long, I'd always imagined it to be Reyna and Jason. Jason and Reyna.

I'd never considered the possibility that it would end up as Piper and Jason, and I would be the discarded third wheel.

And just like that, in under a minute, my heart was broken.

"Miss Vivaldi!"

Leo's voice yanked me out of my reverie.

"What?" I asked, still half out of it, and a little embarrassed. Leo didn't bat an eye, so I guess I was a little better at acting than I'd originally thought.

"It's official. You can call me your hero, because I just saved your life. Or at least, with you being so melodramatic about your runaway expedition, it seems like I've saved your life," he informed me, grinning wildly. He leaned against the hood of the Firebird and crossed his arms over his chest, awaiting my reaction.

"Okay. So how exactly, are you saving my life?" I inquired skeptically.

He smirked and patted the red hood beside him affectionately. "Well, let's just say you and my dear Marilyn Monroe are about to get to know a lot more about each other. Seeing as to the fact that I'll be driving you to Manhattan."

So that's the fourth chapter. I hope you liked it, because it took me a little while to post. I was suffering some writer's block, and I apologize, but that's gone now. I was hit with sudden inspiration, and you're all free to bow down and thank me. Just kidding. I serve you. I hope you enjoy it and review! Please, constructive criticism is always appreciated, and check out my new story, The Love Club. It's about Drew Tananka, and about how exactly she came to be the bitch she is. It's interesting, I promise. Do me a favor and read it and tell me what you think, since I'm not used to writing from a mean girl's perspective. It's different, I can assure you. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the update, and thanks so much for reading. Love you all!

Xoxo-NotsoSugarQueen