Hello and here is the next chapter... Special thanks to Daughter of the Earthshaker for leaving such kind reviews! I'm so glad you are enjoying it and this upload is for you. Thank you for the support and everyone please review! They make me happy :)

Warning: A bit of mature language. No worries.

Day 3

Jason broke out of his deep thoughts with a start as Gwen appeared beside him.

"You scared me," he said with playfully narrowed eyes.

"I know," the blonde shot back with a bright grin.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere else? Namely, not at the praetors' table?"

"Touché," Gwen laughed. "But then you'd be a loner."

Jason chuckled, inhaling another spoonful of delicious, creamy mashed potatoes. Forget all the bad stuff people said about cafeterias—Camp Jupiter's cafeteria food was heavenly. Or should he say… godly? The chefs were, after all, legacies. Haha. Perhaps stand-up comedian was on the table for him after all.

Jason felt his friend's thoughtful green gaze on him and rolled his eyes. "Out with it, Gwen. What do you want?"

"I want… to know where you are with your search for spiritual answers to the questions and meanings of life."

Jason could practically feel the terrible urge to roll his eyes, but restrained himself. "I'm on it, Gwen. I told you that I just need some time."

"But it's been three days," Gwen whined. She cast her wide eyes on Jason pleadingly. "At least tell me what you've discovered!"

He laughed at her antics affectionately, then pushed her face away with a hand. "No puppy-dog eyes, Gwen dear. Only Dakota's stupid enough to let you get away with it."

"Fine," she huffed. She stabbed her fork into a carrot, dipping it in gravy, then munched on it while watching the other legionnaires come and go. Her eyes landed on a tall, dark, and handsome (and well-muscled) guy, one she recognised immediately as a certain Michael Kahale, fellow demigod of Venus. Gwen's mind went into "profile mode".

Name: Michael Kahale

Godly Relation: Son of Venus

Description: TD&H

Relationship Status: Single

Relationship History: Reyna (almost)

Wait a minute.

"Jase, isn't that—"

"Michael Kahale. Yeah, I remember him," Jason muttered, glaring at the back of the centurion's head. "He's Centurion of the First Cohort. I know my people."

Gwen squeezed Jason's bicep in excitement, ignoring his grimace. "Nonono, don't you dare change the subject, Mr Grace. Michael Kahale's the one who—"

She yelped, interrupting her speech. Frowning, she inspected her hand, which was cramping. Her fingers felt heavy and were painful to move. Even her arm felt like lead, though her blood moved faster than ever.

Jason glanced at her in horror. "Gods, I'm so sorry, Gwen… I didn't mean to, it just came out of me and I couldn't control it and I'm so so so sorry, are you okay? I'll never forgive myself, dammit, I'm sorry…"

"Shut up, I'm fine, you idiot," Gwen chastised, slowly pulling her fingers into a fist and opening them. "It was just a little shock. I didn't know you were still so hung up on that."

"How could I not be?" Jason sighed, not hungry anymore. "Sometimes, I still get nightmares about the incident."

"Aww, puppy, could you be any more adorable?" she cooed, patting her friend's hair with a fond smile.

It started when Jason came back, though he suspected that it was already happening before he did. He wasn't as oblivious as everyone thought he was, especially when someone was threatening Reyna.

Well, not threatening, but could anyone blame him if he was jealous? Yes, he had soon accepted the fact that he was jealous. Jealous of stupid Michael Kahale. Especially after Jason's memories of Reyna had finally returned, and he realised what an amazing girl he had always had right in front of him.

The girl who was currently smiling and flirting up a storm with stupid Kahale.

Who would even like a guy whose surname sounded like a disgusting green leafy vegetable?

Apparently, Reyna would, and every second that Jason saw the two of them talking or laughing or even standing in close proximity (no male was supposed to get within a six-foot radius of Reyna), he got more and more jealous.

But he promised himself not to act upon it, because even though his and Reyna's relationship was becoming stronger with each day that passed, he was not the boy in her life anymore. Kale was, and Reyna seemed to be happy with him. Jason knew he had caused her a lot of pain and heartbreak, and he didn't want to stop her from having happiness, even if it would be with someone else. Friends would be enough. It wasn't, but he would convince himself it was as long as she chose Kale over him.

So, no rash decisions and no acting upon it, despite his clearly noble intentions: to save his Ice Queen from becoming Mrs Disgusting Green Leafy Vegetable.

"Hey Superman, why the frowny face?" Reyna teased, sliding in beside him, invisible wind nymphs bringing her tray to her. Jason turned to her, surprised that he had zoned out so deeply that he hadn't realised her leaving Kale.

"Um," he croaked, blushing with embarrassment before clearing his throat and plastering his usual confident smirk onto his face. "If I'm Superman, are you my Lois Lane?"

Reyna snorted, elbowing her co-praetor fondly. (And no, her cheeks were not pink at all, it was just a trick of the light.) "Stop with the pick-up lines, Jase."

"But it's okay when Michael Kale does it?" Jason asked bitterly.

Reyna frowned at his tone. "Did you just call him Michael Kale?"

Jason gulped. "No, I said Kahale."

"No, you said Kale!" Reyna insisted. "Do you have something against him?"

"No, I don't! He's a… cool dude." Jason grimaced. So much for covering up his true feelings for the guy.

"A cool dude. Really. Just tell me what's wrong, Airhead. There's nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, he's smart, good-looking, tall, mysterious, good with a sword—"

"I don't hate him! Gods. And for the record, I'm a better swordsman."

"First of all, yes, obviously you're better," Reyna smirked. "But second of all, I never said you hated him. You got there very quickly on your own."

"If you're implying something, I just said that I don't hate him, okay? Now are we done with this interrogation?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow at Jason's irritated tone. "Okay… Are you sure nothing's going on? You're acting weird today."

Jason shook his head with a sigh, quickly finishing off his apple. "Rey, seriously. I'm just peachy. Sorry for snapping at you, I… just need some air." He managed a smile, putting a hand on her shoulder, feeling her suspicious gaze on his back as he left.

Damn his stupid emotions.

Just then, his heightened senses picked up the murmur coming from a table nearby.

"Damn, Mike, she's hot."

"Nice line, dude. Worked every single time. I'm gonna borrow it, if you don't mind."

"Now you can check 'praetor chick' off your list!"

"Yeah, she ate up everything you said. Girl won't see what's heading her way when you dump her in front of the entire camp at the Festival of Fortuna."

And in the middle of the ring of cheering teenage boys stood none other than a grinning Kale, who really was not Jason's favourite person right now.

His vision tunneled. His blood rushed with energy. The air thinned and rippled with static.

And suddenly, Jason was in the middle of the group, punching and judo-flipping the boys one-by-one, deflecting attacks with the ease of an angered demigod until only two remained standing: the last guy who spoke and Kale.

The whole cafeteria was silent by now, watching the scene. Jason swiped the back of his hand over his now bleeding lip, ignoring the dull throbbing of his eye. Adrenaline pumped through him, wiping away the pain and replacing it with anger.

He carefully stepped over the splayed limbs of grunting legionnaires on the floor, eyes focused on the guy beside Kale. In the corner of his eye, he saw Reyna making her way through the crowd, but he didn't care. Jason grabbed the collar of the guy's shirt and harshly pulled it towards him.

"Why don't you tell everyone here what you just said about Reyna?" Jason growled dangerously.

"He didn't say anything about her," Michael Kahale stepped up. He roughly shoved the slightly shorter blond, making Jason step backwards. "Why don't you tell me why you just beat up my friends?"

"Because they were talking shit about Reyna, that's why," Jason spat back with disgust.

"What's it to you?" the other guy scoffed. "It's not like she's your girlfriend or some—"

Crack. The guy groaned, clutching his jaw. Jason rubbed his bleeding knuckles. "If you know what's good for you, you'll shut your mouth unless you want to tell Reyna how you were going to dump her in public."

"Is this true?" Reyna's voice cut through, cold and accusing. "Michael. Is this true?"

"No, of course not," Michael Kahale said, smiling at Reyna. "Don't listen to him. He's just jealous."

Jason lunged at him, kneeing him in the gut and hooking him on the side of his face. Kahale recovered quickly, lunging back at Jason as they grappled for dominance. Jason lost his balance, giving Kahale leverage to put him in a headlock. The blond gasped, grappling at Kahale's arm, which only tightened around his neck.

"Let him go!" Reyna ordered in the background.

Hearing her voice, Jason felt another surge of energy. Crushing Kahale's foot under his, he took advantage of the momentary distraction and twisted, burying his elbow into Kahale's groin and judo-flipping him the way Annabeth had done to Percy, replacing the love with disgust.

"Watch out!"

The other guy lunged toward Jason at full throttle. As he reached him, Jason stepped aside and grabbed the guy's arm, using his own momentum to throw him into a chair, where he crashed and sunk to the ground. Just as he was about to get up, Reyna appeared, round-house kicking him in the chest to keep him down.

Out of nowhere, Kahale resurfaced, and Reyna couldn't warn Jason in time. The larger and buffer teen pushed Jason to the ground, crushing the blond with his own body weight. Jason felt nothing but pain in his every bone (though that was quite the overstatement). He suddenly felt angry again. How dare this guy insult Reyna, then attack him when clearly, Kale was the one who was wrong, not Jason? What was this guy's problem, attacking Jason out of nowhere?

(He conveniently forgot that he had been the one to approach them.)

With a surge of adrenaline, something boiled in Jason's blood, and suddenly, Kahale was thrown into a table and yelping, holding a lightly charred arm. "You shocked me, you bastard!" he growled.

Jason could only look at his hands in disbelief at the power he had unknowingly released into another human being. He felt so guilty. It was his own jealousy that brought this on anyway... Kale was a bad guy, but he didn't deserve being turned into a human kebab...

"Reyna," Kahale called suddenly, holding a cloth to his bleeding broken nose. "Believe me, I would never do such a thing. Jason Grace is just making shit up to have an excuse to pick a fight with me. Why don't you choose a side? Me? Or that guy?"

Reyna glared at him. "Just pick your friends up and heave your sorry asses to the infirmary," she snarled. "Because I don't give a shit what you have to say. I'd pick Jason over you any day. And if you think I'm one of those girls who will cling onto you desperately and cry over being dumped then you're wrong, Kale."

Michael Kahale looked around as if he couldn't believe he had just gotten totally and utterly rejected. Then, he and his gang left the cafeteria, egos and faces bruised.

"Legionnaires, you have ten minutes of lunch break left. I suggest you stop staring and start eating," Reyna said matter-of-factly, as if nothing of importance had just happened. On her cue, the legionnaires went back to their own conversations and food.

"Thanks," Jason grinned when they got back to their own table. "For trusting me."

Reyna smiled genuinely. "I should be the one thanking you. For showing me what an asshole that guy was."

"You mean that smart, good-looking, tall, mysterious guy?"

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, though her smirk betrayed her true feelings.

"Oh, and did I hear you call him Kale?" Jason teased.

"Yes, you heard correctly," she replied with a laugh. "I'm done with him. By the way, nice punching. Unless girls like guys with cauliflower noses, I doubt he'll be getting any more action for a while."

They chuckled, lapsing into silence for a while in silent thought.

"Jason... watch out for your shocky hands in the future. It may not be wise to use your powers on your fellow legionnaires, no matter you problems with them."

"Yes, of course. I feel really bad. I'm sorry..." Jason trailed off, looking sheepish. To be honest, he was a little scared of his own abilities. It was disquieting, knowing the extent of his power and knowing that he could have seriously injured Kale. Reyna smiled in reply.

"Wait," Reyna broke the quiet. "Were you really jealous?"

Jason chewed a fry he had stolen from her plate slowly. What he said next could change everything. Their relationship, their dynamic… If she rejected him, they would not be as comfortable with each other as they were now. Was it worth it? Was the chance worth the leap?

"… Yes. Just a bit," he finally answered, avoiding her gaze as yet another blush threatened to creep up his neck.

"Okay," Reyna said with a small, unreadable smile. "Okay."

That was the beginning of the transition of their friendship into something more. Or perhaps it had always been teetering on the brink of becoming more. But nonetheless, when Reyna tended his wounds gently as he retold the entire story with himself as Superman and herself as Lois Lane (with some exaggeration), he did not regret a single thing. Especially when she had kissed him on the cheek. (She would then say that there was a cut there and she was kissing it better, but she had never done that before, so he counted that as a legitimate kiss.)

I was thinking about publishing this as a separate fic, but it's nice here. Hope you enjoyed- leave a review please! :) And follow/favourite to make me a happy puppy.

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