Please Read-

So so sorry for the super long wait! I was on vacation with no wifi, well no free wifi. Someone please PM or review me how they think Jason is going to react! I don't really know his character that well.

Wow, I'm so desperate I'm pulling ideas from City of Bones. There is actually no place like that in London, probably, too rainy. I made it up, 'cuz this is FanFiction.net.

appjhfl12345: For my story, Bars and Stealing Bubblegum, do you think it should it be a collection of one shots?

Reyna's POV,

Five Hours Later (1:00 PM)

The combined scents of burnt sugar and mint leaves*, along with metal and...Hot chocolate wafts into her nose. A dark haired person peeks into the corner of her peripheral vision, and Reyna jumps up, the room spinning.

"You snore in your sleep." An all-too-familiar voice rings through the room, and she blinks, realizing she's in a room similar to a forge.

"Shut up and pass the hot chocolate."

"Well, somebody woke up on the wrong side of bed." The male, whom she now sees to be Leo Valdez, sniffs dramatically, pretending to be heartbroken.

But he passes over a mug of the decadent drink, and she sighs, bringing it to her nose to inhale deeply as she warmed her hands with it.

"Why am I here?"

"Well, after you oh so rudely passed out at the bar, the bartender asked me to take you home, but I have no idea where you lived, so I brought you here, where you decided to sleep for five hours, and now it's two'o clock in the afternoon. So, rough night?"

As impressed as she was that anyone could talk that fast without taking a breath, Reyna needed a bath.

"Why don't I answer that question after I gouge your eyes out or after you let me take a bath, whichever comes first."

"I knew it!" Leo proclaimed at the top of his lungs.

"It's a miracle. Knew what?"

"Everyone falls for Jason." His voice was unusually melancholy as he continued. "And nobody falls for me."

"That's not true..." Even as she said it, Reyna knew that it was her words that were untrue, not his. Leo was a scrawny, irritating Latino boy who would never amount to much of anything. Jason was a high class boy, a born leader, and fine she'll admit it, handsome.

"Don't... Don't do that. "

"Do what?"

"Act like it isn't true when everyone knows it is. "

There is something about being around someone who is so rarely sad and is suddenly so that makes you want to cheer them up. But before she could do so, his mood changed.

"Do you want to see something?" Reyna was taken aback by the abrupt change in his mood, but went along with it anyways.

"Sure."

Who knew one tiny word could change her life forever?

"This place is amazing!"

Surprisingly, Leo had taken me to a café with an awe-striking view of a greenhouse, which was surprisingly beautiful for late November what with its colourful blossoms spilling off vines and sweet-smelling buds. But most importantly of all; the hot chocolate was magnificent.

"I have friends in high places, sweetheart."

"Call me that again..."

"And what? You'll pull a knife on me? Too late. Annabeth has already pulled that trick."

"Annabeth... She's that blonde, right? The one who got extremely drunk at Thanksgiving?"

"Usually people describe her differently, such as 'the scary blonde who can make you want to wet yourself with one glare', but yes."

Reyna rolled her eyes at his antics, but a smile crept its way onto her mouth anyways.

"Yes!" She had by now grown accustomed to his odd outbursts, even liked them almost.

"What?"

"I got you to smile!"

"That wasn't a smile! That was... that was a-"

"A frown? I got you to smile, Ice Queen!"

"Ice Queen?"

"Because you seem so cold on the outside? And Reyna is Spanish for queen?"

"I don't get it." Actually, she did. She simply didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she did.

He sighed melodramatically for the second time in an hour. "You're no fun."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

And so we went back and forth for an hour or so, just like that. And somehow, she did find herself having fun.

Thalia's POV

The Dance

She was dressed in a strapless ruffled dress that was red at the bodice and slowly darkened to black. A simple silver ring adorned her left ring finger, along with a coating of red nail polish that was speckled with black. Her footwear was black pumps that had silver studs along the stiletto heel, and she carried a red clutch with black lace over top. The heavy necklace she wore jingled as she moved, shifting to crane her neck to see the mirror.

"You can't look yet." Nico told her.

"Why not?"

"Because you can't."

"Ah, who can argue with such logic?"

"Exactly."

"I was being sarcastic." She turned but he stopped her.

"Hold still. I'm almost done."

"Didn't you say that ten minutes ago?"

"But this time I'm serious."

"I'm sure."

"Oh, just take the damn mirror."

Her makeup was simple: barely-there lip gloss that just added a bit of sheen to her lips, and dark eyeliner that just accentuated her eyelashes, making them look longer than they actually were. Surprisingly, Thalia...

"I like it."

"So do I."

"Why?" She asked in surprise.

"I never said it was the makeup I liked.`` He murmured, running a hand up the bare skin of her thigh that was exposed from the already-short dress being rucked up.

She knew she should tell him to stop but she didn't. (should, should, should... ) She could never say no when it came to him.

"Thalia."

"What?" She managed.

"Luke is not escorting you to the dance. I am."

A Week Later

"Can I ask you something?" Nico said tentatively, turning to face her.

"You just did." She smacked him upside the head, laughing, before sinking deeper into the velvet pillows of her bed.

"That night, two days after we first met and I said something like men are pigs, why did you tell me to never say that?"

"It was actually, "Men, such pigs." Those were my sister's words. She left me a week later. I was only ten at the time."

"Why? What happened?"

"She... have you heard of the group the Hunters of Artemis? Well, she joined them."

"Oh... Nico, I..." She let her voice trailed off, unsure of what to say, what would not make it worse.

"There is nothing you can say. So do not. Just... leave it alone."

Because she could tell there's something wrong, something other than the conversation, from the set of Nico's mouth -lips pressed together tightly- or his shoulders -taut with tension- or the way he kissed her -frantic and hurried like this is his last chance to do so- Thalia has to say it.

"What's wrong?

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"Well, hurry up! I haven't got all day, you know."

"Technically, you do-" He was stalling, even though it was true. Both her father and brother were out on something about business and inheritances, leaving them alone in the manor for the rest of the day.

"Get to the point, Nico."

"I have to go somewhere."

Who knew only five words could do such damage? Because at that very moment, those eighteen letters made her world begin to spin wildly off its axis, dreams and hopes and promises falling down a dark vortex, along with her heart.

"No... no. Why?" Thalia was surprised that her mouth still worked. How could anything when he was leaving?

"Luke... Your fiancée has sent his soldiers after me. It won't be long before he finds me. I can't stay here forever, Thalia. Sooner or later, you'll be seeing me at my funeral."

He spoke seriously, but she let the words blur together in a familiar, melodious, soothing symphony, letting her ears clutch at his voice in case this was the last time Thalia would ever hear it.

"Nico?"

"Yes, Thalia?" Thalia could hear the pain in his voice, guilt, and she knew that his face bore a three words (Anything you want), and one emotion: compliance.

If he was leaving, they ought to make the most of it, right?

The Next Morning

Thalia bolted straight up in bed, and tried not to cry. She was Thalia Grace, and she didn't cry. Blinking, she caught sight of a note, written hastily with one of the words smudged with a tear stain: Get dressed. Don`t worry about me. I'll be home for Christmas.

Home... What was home without him?

The note had been placed on a stack of clothes at the foot of her bed, which she now examined in the hopes of distracting herself from the gaping hole in her chest. A black turtleneck, red skirt, and a strand of pearls, with silver bangles.** She sighed and slipped into the outfit and placed on her feet a pair of red heels. She rolled her eyes in spite of herself; he'd always liked her in red.

*The Lost Hero, Jason: "...one sort of girlfriend with a dagger, and Leo, who apparently thought he could defeat the armies of darkness with breath mints."

**link to outfits on my profile

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!