Hey, guys! I know it's been forever since I last updated but that's because my summer has been super busy lately. But, finally, I have a break and I have an amazing (and long!) chapter set in store for you!

A part in here was inspired by my great aunt, who, without her, who knows how my grandparent's relationship could've turned out? She was able to literally get in between her brother (my grandpa) and another girl who was chasing after him even though he was dating my grandmother.

Anyways, so I hope you like this chapter. There's some Jeyna but, as always, Jasper is for the win!

I do not own PJO, Rick does.

Enjoy!

"So what are you doing tonight?" Leo asked Jason through the phone.

Jason was frantically running around his apartment, cleaning things up. Since he lived in the mortal world and had a lot of things—unlike how it was at both camps, where his belongings were at a minimum due to staying in a cabin all alone—he had slacked off of keeping his place clean. It wasn't as bad; he wasn't a hoarder. It's just that Reyna was coming over and she had been staying at Camp Jupiter and New Rome, and she was a daughter of Bellona and Jason knew that she hadn't changed her neat and specific actions. So he had to make sure it was to her lifestyle because if not, she would be uncomfortable and be in an edgy mood and give him the look: pursed lips and narrowed eyes.

Jason didn't want that. He was friends with her, after all, fellow Romans. It was respectful and just the right thing to do.

"I'm having that interview with Reyna." Jason responded to Leo as he threw his clothes into his room and then shutting the door. The two would not be going in there tonight. Jason would make sure of it. Piper had always been wary about him and Reyna. But none of it was true, he'd swear. He didn't want her getting the wrong idea because Reyna was strictly a friend.

There was a shrilling hacking noise on the other end of the phone, like Leo was choking.

Jason stopped, panting from hurrying around his apartment. He put his free hand on his hip. "Leo? You okay?"

"I am, but you're not!"

Jason's brows pulled together. "What do you mean?"

"Dude, you and Reyna alone at your apartment is a mess of trouble just waiting to happen."

"It's just an interview. I don't understand why everyone freaks out about it."

"Well it's like it's mandatory since we're Greek and she's Roman. We're supposed to freak out because, well, they hate us and we hate them. Does it seriously need explaining?"

"Hey!" Jason exclaimed, hurt. "I'm Roman, too, you know!"

"Yeah, but you're my best friend. You don't count,"

Jason was a little confused, but also hurt. He was still Roman. He had some of Jupiter in his blood and nothing could change that, even being Leo's best friend couldn't. And Reyna was his friend, and they used to be praetors. Besides, it was just an interview. It can't do any harm.

Jason was about to respond, but Leo waved off the question. "Listen, just be careful, okay? I still don't trust her, I'm sorry."

"But she fought with us!" Jason protested. "She trusted you!"

"Fighting isn't what I mean." Leo said in a low but strong voice, which told Jason that he was being serious about it.

"So then what do you mean?"

He could hear Leo suck in breath, like he was about to answer. But then three knocks banged through the air, cutting off their conversation.

"That's Reyna now. Listen, I'll talk to you later, okay, Leo?"

"Just…" Leo sighed impatiently. "Just be careful on what you do! I don't think you should—"

His friend's voice was far away as he took the phone away from his ear. Jason emphasized into it, a little irritated, "Goodbye, Leo!"

"Jas—"

Jason responded by ending the call and then turning off his phone, slipping it into his pocket. He then went to the door dressed in casual jeans and a purple t-shirt. He looked down at his shirt and hesitated to open the door. The color…should he change it? He blinked away the thought, shaking his head a little.

It's fine, he thought. There's nothing wrong with it.

He then opened the door to find, not surprisingly, Reyna. She had her hair in a thin braid and it fell across her shoulder. On her other shoulder, there hung a cream colored messenger bag. She wore black pants that hugged her legs and a white tank top under a denim jacket.

Jason smiled at her. "Hey,"

"Hello, Jason," she responded and pressed her lips together, the ends curling up. It made her pale freckles curve.

"Yeah, well, come on in." He stepped off to the side to welcome her in.

She nodded and stepped in, the buckles her light brown boots that went to her knees clacked with each step; her messenger bag bounced against her hip. Reyna was hesitant to step in as her dark brown eyes wondered around the walls, taking in each detail. Her heart began to beat a little louder and she suddenly felt nervous—which wasn't really a feeling she had developed before. She swallowed, knowing why, and told herself to sustain her feelings.

Jason closed the door behind him and led her to the couch.

Reyna looked toward the kitchen and didn't see any food set out on the table or anything cooking on the stove or oven or microwave. She cleared her throat, feeling a little disappointed that he hadn't prepared a little dinner, but she had also expected this, too.

Jason could see her disappointment. "Um," he coughed. "Are you hungry?"

"No." Reyna replied a little too quickly.

Jason nodded his head, his lips pressed because he was already feeling a little uncomfortable. But he knew not to give up too easily.

Reyna seated herself and then took her bag from her neck and set it gently on the coffee table in front of her. She reached into it and took out a journal, a pen, and a voice recorder.

Jason sat down next to her and faced her with his hands fidgeting in his lap.

Reyna smiled at him. "You ready?"

He nodded and raised his shoulders, returning a small smile. "Yeah. Shoot,"

She turned on her recorder and held it limply in her hand, which was settling on her lap, with the speaker turned towards him. This made butterflies fly through him, a little nervous with a recorder now hungry for feeding on every syllable he speaks and every breath he takes.

"So, Jason Grace," Reyna started. "You are a famous basketball player."

Jason blinked. "Yeah."

"Would you say that your career is very successful?"

Jason nodded. "I guess so, yeah. People say I'm good; but…our whole team's very…productive." He blinked.

Productive? Was that the right word to say? Who says that?

"Yes, but you seem to be the main star on your team. You make practically every single shot. You are a Roman demigod of Jupiter. How did you ever become fantastic at basketball?" Reyna asked with a furrowed brow.

Jason shakily chuckled and gave a small shrug. "Oh, well, after—when I decided to leave camp, I…got a place to stay and Leo Valdez, my manager, and I were playing at a, uh, college"—Jason swallowed, his gaze lifted up at a spot on the ceiling as if he were trying to remember what had happened that got him into his famous career—"with a couple of friends of ours and someone saw me and let me into try-outs and, well, as you can see, I made the cut."

Reyna's lips gave a small tug because she was proud of Jason. "So, tell us the truth behind the story. How were you able to be so good at this sport?"

Jason hesitated. The only people who knew about his little secret were Leo (he had found out by himself. Jason wasn't sure how but he knew there was only one answer—because he's Leo) and Piper. And he had told Piper. Jason wasn't sure if he should tell Reyna, and then that would pass on to everyone at Camp Jupiter. He wasn't sure if he wanted that.

So he shrugged. "Practice makes perfect?"

Reyna chuckled. "Very true. So you just tried the sport and realized that all those years of training were worth it, even for a mortal sport?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"You have so many fans at Camp Jupiter, because they were all your friends at one point," Reyna said and Jason could hear the small sadness in her voice. "Is there anything you'd like to say to them?"

Jason paused for a long while—or what seemed to be long. He thought about this. Was there something he should say? He hadn't thought about this before, because no one had really asked him this, and he had a lot of fans, he knew.

He cleared his throat and was beginning to feel a little under pressure. "Um, well, it's really great to have fans from there," he answered awkwardly. "Thanks for…being there and supporting me."

"Do you miss being at Camp Jupiter?"

Jason's throat closed up.

Okay, he thought. This is getting a little personal.

Reyna blinked, expecting an answer.

This was one of those moments where Jason felt torn in two. He understood that he was probably making a big deal out of this one, simple question but he also understood that there were still jealousies bouncing around. He couldn't find an answer to this question because that could possibly hurt Camp Half-Blood, which was also his home.

He shrugged and rubbed his palm against his lips, resting his chin in his hand. "Sometimes," he mumbled.

Reyna pursed her lips and her eyelids lowered a little. Jason knew she was disappointed again.

"So, Jason, many girls in New Rome are asking. Are you in a relationship?"

Jason nodded, almost a little too quickly.

"With whom?"

"Um…that's—" Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Oh, come on, it won't hurt to tell. New Rome wants to know," she poked his side.

But Jason wasn't amused. It's not that he's embarrassed to tell, it's just that…he kind of knew the consequences if he confessed he was still in love with a Greek demigod. Especially with Reyna here.

He said in a lowered voice, "Can we skip to the next question, please, Reyna?"

Reyna's smile disappeared. "Sure."

Jason didn't want to be harsh with her tonight. He wanted to have a little bit of laughter, since it had been a while since he'd seen her. So he took the recorder and leaned back in the couch. "Okay, Miss Reyna, now it's time for me to interview you." He said with a sly smile.

A surprised gasp escaped from her and she gave him a serious look. "Give that back!" She reached forward.

But Jason raised the device high above his head, out of her reach. "Nope, you asked me questions, now I ask you some."

Reyna fought for a few more moments. "Jason!" She yelped. "Give it back! That is mine and if you break it or delete anything on it—"

"Relax, Reyna, it's just a few questions. It's not gonna kill you."

"So help me gods, you will be the one that's killed—by my hand." She finished.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Over a small recorder?"

She sighed through her nose. "Yes,"

Jason decided to ignore the threat. "So, Reyna, tell us," he paused, thinking up a question. "What else do you do in your free time besides threatening to kill people over a recorder?"

She glared at him and then sat back. "Oh, I practice combat and sword fighting so that way I can fulfill those threats." Reyna gave him a wicked smile.

It put a shiver up his spine. He sniffed. "Well, that's…not surprising, coming from a daughter of the war goddess."

"Exactly. Now give it back."

"Nuh-uh-uh," Jason sang. "Just a few more questions."

"Fine."

"So, are you a very famous writer in New Rome?"

"Really, I'm a journalist."

"So, are you a very famous journalist in New Rome?" he repeated.

Reyna couldn't stop the laugh that leapt from her mouth. "Um…no, not exactly. After this, I could be, though."

"Why?" Jason was confused.

"Because I'll be the one who will be putting you in the New Rome Times. Everyone loves you there. And with me to get them closer to you and your lifestyle, I should be quite known."

"You're welcome." He said. "But what a cruel thing to do to include me in your master plan,"

"It's not a master plan. At least…" She looked at the ground in ponder. "I didn't intend for that in the first place."

Jason smirked. "So, Reyna, are you in a relationship?"

She hesitated. "Not exactly. It's…a one-sided love; I guess is what you would call it."

Jason blinked and he regretted asking the question. He cleared his throat and wouldn't meet her gaze, which was settled on him. He turned his head away from her and could feel her eyes on him.

Without looking at her, he gave her recorder back to her. He could hear her click it off.

She asked softly, "It's Piper, isn't it?"

He gritted his teeth and still didn't look at her. His lips were pursed when he nodded his head. He could already guess who the other side in her "relationship" was.

But he wouldn't say it. He didn't even want to be near this subject because he hated that it was coming in between him and his friend. But, here they were and he knew that she didn't want to get away from it.

Reyna's heart had been bullied for too long. It was time she actually told him, since he had been so oblivious to it ever since they were teenagers.

She gave a nervous laugh. "Jason…" she took a deep breath. "There's something I have to tell you. I know you don't think or feel the same way, but I know how to feel, even when other people don't think I do. I have…strong feelings for you and—"

"Are we done with the interview?" he asked, cutting her off, and still didn't look at her.

It was like a dagger had pierced her heart, and she almost knew how that felt. She clenched her teeth to stop the prickling at her eyes and the lump in her throat. But she wasn't done.

"I have one more question."

"What?"

"Did you ever feel the same way? Ever?"

Jason didn't even want to answer, but before he could, the door to his apartment slammed open and he didn't care who it was, but such a weight was taken off his shoulders and relief replaced it. He could finally breathe now. He looked up to see who it was and low and behold, Leo was walking towards them.

"Hey," he said slowly with a mischievous smile on his face. "Looks like we have a party here! Scoot over,"

Reyna scooted towards Jason to make room for Leo because she still needed her answer.

Leo knew what she was doing, though. He didn't want her coming in between his two best friends—who were so happy together—again. Even though she made room for him on the edge of the couch next to the arm rest, he popped out his butt and wiggled it in between the two, forcing her to move over. He had a confident smile on his face as he leaned back and propped his feet on the coffee table.

Reyna was fuming. How did he even get in here? She supposed he had a key. She glared daggers at Leo, wishing the phrase "if looks could kill" were true. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Leo looked over at her and said coolly, "'Sup, dawg?"

Reyna scoffed and rolled her eyes. She had the look of utter disgust. But she caught the look that was on his face:

I am not moving so you better learn to not make any more moves on him.

She scrunched her nose and gave him another glare. Her cheeks flushed with anger and embarrassment.

Leo looked over at Jason, wondering how he felt about him doing this. He figured he'd be mad or maybe a little annoyed or maybe grinning happily and hugging and thanking Leo. But, no. His best friend showed no emotion. And even if he did, he didn't say a word about it either.

This made Leo's smile even more confident.

"Let's watch a movie," he suggested as he leaned forward to get the remote and turned on the TV.

Reyna sighed bitterly and rested her chin on her hand, crossing one leg over the other.

Leo flipped through the channel guide. Then he gasped. "Oh my gods; look! When Harry Met Sally! Oh, I love this movie!" He stopped and changed his mind. "No, wait a second, guys. Here's the perfect one: The Notebook. Oh, it's just so…heart-wrenching."

Reyna rolled her eyes again. She couldn't stand chick flicks much less mortal movies.

Leo gasped sharply again. "Pretty Woman!"

"Will you just pick a movie already?" Reyna snarled. "And maybe something that's not so dramatic?"

"How would you know if they're dramatic if you've never watched them before?"

"Hey, look, Ghost," Jason said like he was reading a teleprompter.

"Please, Jason, there are no such things as ghosts." Reyna countered matter-of-factly.

Leo snickered. And then he stopped. "And I've found a tiebreaker! Looks like there's a marathon of the Twilight Saga,"

That was when Reyna stood up. "I must be going now."

"What?!" Leo exclaimed as he looked up at her with a pout. "You can't leave now! It's at the best part,"

"No, really, I've got better things to do."

"Come on," Leo pressed on. "You can be on Team Edward with me."

"I'd rather not." Reyna replied in a low voice. She began to pack her things back into her messenger bag. "It was a nice interview, Jason." She put the strap on her shoulder and walked to the door.

"I'm willing to be on Team Jacob, if you want."

"I'll send you a copy of the newspaper, Jason!" She hollered over her shoulder and then slammed the door shut behind her.

The two were silent for a while; and Jason had been trying to stifle his laughter the entire time.

"Well, that went well." Leo said and it broke the silence.

It finally unleashed some of Jason's laughter. He was quiet again and the atmosphere was still silent except for the TV.

But Jason had occurred to some thoughts about what had just happened between him and Reyna before Leo came in. He gave a sigh of relief and rested his temple on his hand. "You came in at the perfect moment; you are a lifesaver." He told Leo with a smile, though looking at the TV screen.

Leo chuckled and patted his friend on the back. "You're welcome, but I get to say: I told you so."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you that the two of you together tonight would be a mess of trouble waiting to happen."

"Yeah," Jason mumbled. "I still have to talk to her though; clear some things up…" he told himself.

"Why?"

"I don't want to just leave her hanging without an answer or an explanation. She kind of deserves it after all she's been through."

Leo raised an eyebrow and looked at him sideways. "What exactly did you two talk about?"

Jason blinked out of his trance and looked up at Leo. "It's a long story."

Leo accepted it and shrugged it off, turning back to the TV.

The other man turned back to the TV as well and found Leo still flipping through the channel guide. The two were silent again, as Leo couldn't decide on which program to choose. After a while, he selected a show that Jason didn't recognize.

"You know," Leo finally said, "if she actually looked at the TV, she would've noticed that none of those movies were really on the guide."

Jason snorted and grinned. "Wow, Leo,"

"What?" He shrugged innocently. "I'm just sayin'."

Piper rummaged through some papers on her glass coffee table, still in her office. It was late at night and she didn't have to comprehend that just from a clock. She looked out her floor-to-ceiling windows and found the sky a light and dull blue, with an explosion of pink churning with a gray cloud. The sun blazed lazily as it nestled itself in between the earth and the sky. It was beautiful and about seven or eight at night. She usually went home at around five, so this was late for Piper.

She buried herself in her work still, but she was running out of ideas. She was sketching some dresses in her sketchbook; it was at that time when all of her ideas and thoughts looked exactly the same. It was starting to make her go insane, with this, what, designer's block?

Piper sighed and leaned back on the leather couch. She wondered what Jason was doing, as this whole day, her thoughts had been on him, like usual.

A knock on her office door took her out of her thoughts.

Lacey popped her head in. "Piper," she said with a mischievous smile. "You have a visitor."

Piper stood up and threw on a sweater to cover her camp T-shirt and smoothing down her baggy navy sweatpants. "No, don't let them in here. I'm not dressed properly!" she hissed.

"I don't think he'll mind, Piper. Honestly, he's your boyfriend." Lacey replied and stepped to the side, allowing Jason in.

"Oh." Piper said with a small smile. "It's you."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Jason replied as he walked to her after thanking Lacey. She had closed the door to give them privacy.

"Oh!" Piper lightly exclaimed with sudden enthusiasm. "It's you!'

"Ha-ha," Jason said flatly as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her against him. "Very funny." He leaned down to kiss her.

She kissed him back but it wasn't much of a kiss. Short and sweet, just the way she liked it. Piper wrapped her arms more tightly around him and set her head on his hard chest. "So how was the interview?"

Jason hesitated but tightened his arms around her as well, bringing her closer, if that were possible. "It went well."

She nodded and then loosened away from him and sat back down on the couch. He followed her and sat next to her. He looked down at her scribbles of drawings, and could tell that she had grown a little frustrated and tired from it. A thought struck him as he remembered when everyone from Camp Half-Blood was in here and he caught a glance at the drawing of himself.

Jason reached forward and flipped through the pages of her sketchbook.

"Hey, what are you—" Piper didn't finish her own sentence when he stopped at a certain page, where at the top corner there was a small sketch of him. The one she drew that one day before leaving her office.

He smiled at it. "You drew me."

Piper wasn't sure what to say and her cheeks blushed. She shrugged. "Yeah,"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "'Yeah'? It's more than that." He looked back down at the drawing. "I love it."

"Really?"

"Really."

They were silent for a while; Jason staring at the picture, Piper staring at Jason in the flesh. She could tell that he was a little edgy, like he was holding something back.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his arm, resting her chin on his shoulder.

He looked over at her. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he had something to do; he knew what to do but didn't want to do it.

That's too many do's, he thought. Jason mentally snickered at the thought. Okay, back to the point.

Jason sighed and set the sketchbook back down on the coffee table. "Piper." He started, but wasn't sure how to finish it. "Something happened earlier tonight that…stirred things up. And it was left unfinished."

Piper brought her chin away from his shoulder and her grasp on his arm loosened. Her eyebrows furrowed in question.

Jason was afraid she'd drift away from him. "There's something I have to fix."

"Does this have to do with Reyna?"

"Yes. We sort of discussed something and we didn't come to a conclusion with it. In order for us—me and you—to have our relationship, I need to take some time and sort things out with her."

"You're not…breaking up—"

"No." he answered, cutting her off. "Definitely not breaking up with you. There's a reason I'm telling you this: it's because I trust you. And I trust you'll listen to me and understand what I'm saying."

"What are you saying?"

"I think we need some time. I have to deal with some things with Reyna. She's only my friend, I know you know that, but…I need to make sure she knows that too."

Piper's eyebrows went to her hairline. This implied that something happened between the two; something Reyna possibly tried but Jason didn't want.

"And, besides, you kind of left some things unfinished with Chris, too." Jason said. "I think that in order for us to have an easy and smooth relationship, we need to tie up loose ends from those who might still have feelings for us."

Piper stared at him blankly, but completely shocked on the inside. What was Jason thinking?! She couldn't and didn't want to talk to Chris again. No way in Tartarus would she do that.

She hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud but she did when Jason gave her a look.

"C'mon, Pipes. I swear I'm not breaking up with you. I love you and I think it'd only be healthy for us and them if we didn't leave them hanging. I know you don't want to see him again but, I think it'd be best."

After he said the words "I love you" she didn't listen to the rest of the sentence. It made her cheeks blush and her heart bound happily. She almost couldn't suppress the grin on her face. She had to get to the other point, though.

"What am I supposed to say to him?"

"I'm sure there's something you'd want to say after a break-up scene like that."

"What, why? There's nothing wrong about me choosing you; that was a good break-up. If he didn't like it, then he can deal with it." She scoffed.

Jason chuckled and then kissed her forehead. "I know, but still. How would you feel if, when you love someone so much, but then that person broke up with you for someone else? How would you feel if you were left behind with grudges?"

Piper pondered about this and then decided that he was right. "Fine," she sighed.

He pulled into her, nuzzling against her hair. "Thank you,"

She bit her smile as a warm feeling spread across her chest when he buried into her.

Although they were happy now, Piper detested the fact that she had to have a short talk with Chris, even though she also knew it was for the best.

Jason didn't love the fact that he had to explain to Reyna about how he never felt about her. It's why he went back to Piper at the end of the day and why he buried himself into her and told her the truth: that he loved her.

Oh...I love Leo so much:3 I think this is one of my favorite chapters so far. I'm sorry if you hate that we're going to see Chris again, but I promise she's not going to get back with him; like I've been saying, just tying up loose ends. Please tell me if you liked it or not and what you thought of this:)

Hope you guys are having a great summer so far!

And make sure you tell your dad Happy Father's Day. He deserves it.