VIII: Rey

Don't Wanna Miss a Thing

"So Frank and Reyna," I say, keeping a careful distance from the killer wolves. Five hours after the Iris Message and Leo's hasty but necessary apology, they came to pick us up. We ended up playing tic tac toe while we waited. A lot of tic tac toe. (I won most of the time, but he'll lie and tell you otherwise.) "Why?"

"Well, Rey," he says seriously, hoisting the canvas bag he'd gotten gods-know-where higher up on his shoulders; he'd washed up before we left, but his hair is still visibly greased and the occasional oil stain still mars his features. "When a man and a woman love each other…"

"You know what I mean, estupido," I snort while he grins crookedly at me. I myself still look like I've been to Hell (Hades?) and back, and I won't be surprised if some passing policeman decides to arrest me on charges of suspicious appearance. As I think of it, I nervously slick back my hair in the desperate hope that it'll help. It doesn't. It makes Leo snort, though. "How have they worked as a couple for two years? They seem so…different."

"You want the unbiased psychological standpoint?" he says casually, though his face seems to soften as he ponders it. "Well…they weren't supposed to work, actually. They started dating on a dare. But they've mostly found a middle ground. Reyna acts assertive and hardcore, but she's actually pretty lonely sometimes, and Frank is kind of like a sponge for soaking up other peoples' problems. And Frank is a bit of a tool when he thinks something is threatening, and Reyna's great at knocking him off his high horse when he gets too irrational." He smiles fondly. "They're similar enough that they can enjoy each other's presence, but different enough that they can balance each other. It's like opposites-attract, but less violent."

I do my best not to stare in surprise; I hadn't expected such an in-depth analysis – and I definitely hadn't expected his loving tone of voice. I hesitate as I search for the right words, but I know I won't find them so in the end I speak bluntly but softly in hopes that'll help. "You really care for them, don't you?"

His face splits into a grin the size of Texas. "They're my best friends," he tells me, sounding more cheerful than he has since I met him yesterday morning. "They mean the world to me. They're the only ones who kept consistent contact after…" He trails off.

I can't help it. "After?" I prompt.

His expression darkens. "We should walk faster if we want to catch up," he mutters, lengthening his stride and refusing to speak. I purse my lips but don't push it.

Sometimes, it's easier to trust people with your life than it is to trust them with your past.

(And some things are meant to stay secrets.)

+x+

We reach the University of Kansas at about 2 AM, which I figure has to be at least slightly influenced by magic because though I can run, I can't run that fast. I'm in a much better mood, despite the time and circumstances; I hate being cooped up in one building for more than a little while (I've slowly built my tolerance up to seven hours to account for school) and I'm about to see Antoine again. I'm a little nervous about meeting Meg, but judging from my visions I'm pretty sure we'll be fine in the end.

Di Angelo, though. And Levesque. They worry me quite a bit.

I don't voice this as we move; Leo is exuberantly explaining their pasts to me, my only chance to rest his occasional pause for breath. Within ten minutes, I learn more about Hades than I've ever wanted to know about any Greek gods in my entire life. I'm only half-listening, making "hm" noises and nodding whenever he seems to hit a lull. The great thing about talkative people is that you don't have to have conversations with them – you just have to exist next to them.

"So," I interrupt about halfway through a rant about precious metals, "where are they, exactly?"

He stops talking for a moment, blinking in apparent surprise. He shakes it off quickly, though, smiling wryly at me. "Sorry. I kind of got off track." He cards a hand through his hair, re-greasing it and probably making it so that 0.0% of girls will so much as glance our way except to give us weird looks. "Well, if they're as intelligent as I think they are, then they know this girl who goes to school here…hey, have you ever heard of Tristan McLean?"

"Um," I think, my entire face scrunching up in concentration. "Y…es? He's an actor, right? Some Greek film."

"King of Sparta," Leo says, sounding some cross between annoyed and amused.

"Yeah, that! He played Brasidas, right? Main character? Really historically inaccurate but still really good?"

"That's the one," he confirms. One of the wolves snap at us and we steer a little clearer. "Well, he has a daughter. Piper. She's a demigod – child of Aphrodite. She used to be my best friend, but we kind of grew apart. She's special, though." His eyes glitter like they did when he was talking about Hazel and Nico; some part of me is fascinated that anyone can love anyone so much, and part of me wants him to get to the point. "Anyway, she's here with a forensic science major – wants to get into the FBI or something. Gods know why, because she used to hate pretending to be things that she wasn't, but you do what you do, I guess."

"So you think that they found her," I surmise, "and that they're in her dorm."

"Yup. But I don't actually know which dorm number it is, and we can't make a rainbow without light." He makes a face. "Urg, we're gonna have to wander around until we find them I guess. Hey, can you guys meet us at the entrance to the school?" he asks the wolves; a few of them turn their heads, but most of them ignore us. "You're kind of attracting stares."

I don't bother to point out that we're probably attracting more stairs than the wolves, but one of them seems to agree with me because it snorts and tosses its head. It doesn't look like the leader of the pack, but it's still beautiful, with an auburn coat and beady black eyes. One of the other wolves bark loudly and the entire pack follows it except the red one, which trots closer and then nuzzles up to my leg.

"Um, your friends went that way," Leo points out unnecessarily. I roll my eyes.

"It's probably staying with us on purpose," I reason as I reach down to scratch its head; its ears flatten and if I didn't know better, I might say that it smiles at me. "For protection, and to lead the pack to us in case we can't make it to the entrance. It's pretty smart of them, actually."

He scrutinizes the wolf and I for a moment and then shrugs. "I kind of suck at animal shit, so whatever," he says brightly before hooking my arm in his and marching jovially. "Come on! We're off to see the wizard – "

"Leo!" I try to pull my arm out of his, but he has a vice grip on it. He winks at me and I flip him off with my free hand. He ignores it, pulling my upwards and continuing the song as loudly as is possible without waking up the not-pulling-an-all-nighter students. "Leo, lemme go!"

"Put some pep in that step, grandpa!" he says devilishly, his eye twinkling. I'm laughing too hard to even attempt protest by now and instead fall limp and let him drag me. "You're not even singing! Come on, what's the fun in that?"

"You're impossible," I snort, finally adhering to his insane whims; the wolf yelps and trots along faster to keep pace with us. I mentally apologize to it. "Man, this school's Dean is going to get so pissed at you and you're going to get put in jail for disrupting the peace and I will laugh my ass off. I am never helping you again. Ever."

"And I have no idea how I'll ever survive that," he concedes cheerfully. "While that happens, I think now is a great time to mention that I can see Piper."

I stop short. "Leo! What the hell?"

"You mean 'what the Hades'. Man, you gotta get used to Greek mythology faster." His eyes twinkle and I can't help but smile at him. "Relax, shortie; she's coming this way. We grabbed her attention – with my voice, obviously, because you suck at singing."

"Liar." I actually do suck at singing, but I'm argumentive anyway because. You know. Honor to defend and shit. "I have the best voice since Freddy Mercury and you know it."

He whistles. "That's a pretty big gamble. Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"How positive?"

"Proton positive."

"Oh, so we're getting into science now, huh?" He smirks down at me and I feel irrationally short. "Well, I'll have you know that I got to study the work of Archimedes, so if you think that you can beat – "

"Leo!" a voice calls, and a look over to see a woman about Leo's age jogging towards us. She's pretty average looking; tan-skinned, brown-haired, wearing a University hoodie and carrying a knife. "Hey! How are you?" She comes to a stop next to us, gasping for breath.

"Hey, Beauty Queen," Leo grins, holding up a hand that she quickly high fives. "How're things going for you?"

"Not bad," she breathes, looking delighted to find someone she can vent to, even if it's only a little. "My roommate's a complete bitch. Still not dating anybody, but I've made some awesome friends. Hazel and Nico got here yesterday evening." She turns her eyes to me and smiles, looking friendly if a bit distant. "Hey, you must be Rey. Antoine's told me a lot about you since he got here. I'm Piper."

Escapist, whispers the voice in the back of my head that focuses on fatalities, but I nod and smile politely. "Nice to meet you," I greet. It's a far cry from my usual demeanor – pessimistic and angry – and I can tell Leo knows it by the way he shoots me an amused look, but Piper seems to buy it because her shoulders sag and she visibly relaxes. "Leo's been telling me about you, too. Child of Aphrodite, right? FBI?"

"Not in the FBI yet, but good guess," she laughs. She seem cheerful enough, but Leo's shooting her an odd look that makes me more suspicious than it probably should. I ignore it, though, and nod good-naturedly, allowing her to lead us as she starts to converse with him. The wolf ruts up against my leg again, and I stroke it almost absent-mindedly. I'm actually kind of fond of it already, which is more than a little pathetic.

I'm mentally berating myself about getting attached to things too quickly when we walk into the well-lit dorm building, populated entirely by 19- and 20-year-olds making really bad life choices that I don't allow myself to judge. Some raise their hands in greeting to Piper, but most of them quickly turn away when they see soot-stained Leo and me with a killer wolf. We walk up a flight of stairs and come to a stop outside of Room 211.

She doesn't get the chance to open the door before it flies open and Antoine is beaming at me; I can see an African-American woman and a sullen-looking man exchange amused looks. "Hey," my best friend greets breathlessly, beaming up at me.

He missed me, I realize, and some invisible weight lifts off my shoulders.

"Hey," I great, smiling crookedly as he reaches forwards and hugs me.

And for once, I let him.

+x+

i don't wanna close my eyes
i dont wanna fall asleep
cause i miss you babe

and i dont wanna miss a thang

+x+

author's note

song was chosen as a joke. #YOLO

thank you all for reviewing! like i am seriously super excited about this? but ive realized that theres something that i need to address, and im sorry i didnt do it earlier

guys, if you come onto the story, find out theres homosexuality, scream "EW" and leave a review saying "GAYS IM SO OUT" im not going to take you seriously. it is literally in the description that theres sexuality shit. the story deals with things like ptsd, homosexuality, autism/asperger's syndrome, and homophobia/transphobia/general non-equality bullshit. if you cant deal with that purely because youre an asshole, i dont really care that ive lost you as a reader. if any of these trigger you, than that's okay and im sorry because i know triggers suck, and this is your warning.

i dont think i did nearly as well making things clearer as i should have, ugh, ill have to keep working on that