"You two gonna wish me luck?" Reyna asked as she looked down at her dogs. They both stared up at her with those innocent eyes. Reyna kissed both of them on the forehead. "I know. I'm gonna need it."
A deep breath left Reyna, and she stood. As she attempted to pet the two dogs with one hand, there was a knock on the door. She swallowed painfully. After her lunch with Nico, she didn't go back to the gym. There was still too much anger for her, and she didn't want to look at Lupa. Instead, she called Thalia and asked her to come over so they could talk.
Reyna walked towards the front door and opened it. She studied her girlfriend. Thalia looked at her and then the ground. Reyna followed her gaze and saw nothing out of the ordinary. This couldn't be a good start to their talk. Reyna looked back up. Thalia wore her coat and a hat that covered her ears. It was cute on her.
"Come on in," Reyna offered. "I just think that we need to-"
"I'm breaking up with you."
"...talk."
Reyna stared at Thalia for a few moments and tried to process that sentence. Thalia looked away and focused back on that interesting spot on the ground. Reyna swallowed painfully and slowly spoke, "Why?"
"I'm just not feeling this relationship anymore," Thalia answered with a shrug. Reyna blinked a few times. What kind of answer was that? Not feeling the relationship anymore!? Reyna felt like they needed to talk a few things out, but they didn't need to break up.
"Thalia, I have put so much effort into our relationship this time. I've called you almost every day. I've opened up to you, and do you know how hard that was?" Reyna questioned. She looked up at the sky as a cold wind cut into her. "Just. Come in."
Thalia didn't budge an inch. She muttered softly, "Why is it so hard to open up to your girlfriend?"
"It's hard for me to open up to anyone, Thalia. You know that," Reyna responded. She shook her head. "I made that effort to let you into my life, and you're just not feeling it? Is that why you have been so distant lately?"
"I guess you know how I felt the first time," Thalia muttered. Reyna just stared at Thalia, with her girlfriend averting her gaze. Reyna swallowed painfully as she felt anger brewing in her chest. She tried to take a deep breath and shove it back down.
"Is that why you agreed to date me again?" Reyna demanded. She clenched her good fist and tried to calm down. Getting mad wasn't going to help. She just needed to try and stay calm. "Did you do that just to get back at me?"
Thalia remained silent. That set Reyna off, and she dug her nails into her skin. It was impossible to clench her other fist, but she really wanted to. Reyna felt anger bubbling up again, and she didn't know if she could stop it. Between this and Lupa yelling at her, this day couldn't get any worse.
Reyna closed her eyes. She put so much damn effort into the relationship, and Thalia gave her nothing. Now, Thalia wanted to break it off but couldn't give her damn good reason. She even mentioned that Reyna knew how she felt the first time. Was this all one big game to her? The anger in her erupted, and she opened her eyes to stare down her soon to be ex.
"You know what, Thalia. Jason was right," Reyna spat. If Thalia couldn't give her a good reason on why she wanted to break up, Reyna would give her one. "The first time I dated you, I only did it to get back at Jason."
Thalia's gaze flicked up to stare at her in shock. Her mouth twitched like she was trying to form words. Not to mention how wide her eyes were. Reyna continued, "Everyone always told me that you would sleep with anyone who gave you attention. I guess they were right."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Thalia demanded. She shook her head, and a bitter chuckle left her. "It's funny now that I think about it. After Thanksgiving, you were so hurt that I slept with you and didn't want a relationship. Yet, you only fucked me the first time to get back at Jason."
"I-"
"You do understand that Jason wouldn't be hurt by that, don't you?" Thalia demanded as she cut Reyna off. "He would be mad. Not hurt. Why would it hurt him that someone slept with his sister? Do you think he would blame himself? Or would he blame you for being an asshole!?"
"The only person who would be hurt would be me!" Thalia snapped. "But, you don't care, do you? Cause you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself."
"I cared about you," Reyna hissed.
"Before or after you only slept with me to make Jason angry?" Thalia asked. Reyna glared. "You wanna be like that? Fine. Let me tell you something, Reyna. There's something that I wondered about for a long time, but it makes sense to me now."
"What are you-"
"I always wondered what kind of person could just abandon their kid. It just seemed so wrong. My mom was a terrible person, but she was there for me. So, how much worse would your mother be to just abandon you like that?" Thalia wondered.
"Thalia, don't," Reyna warned. She felt her heart jump to her throat. Thalia looked her in the eyes.
"It makes sense now. Your mother knew what a disappointment you were going to turn into, and she didn't want to stick around for it," Thalia spat. Reyna felt herself starting to shake in anger, and a small smirk came to Thalia's face. "It's probably why Hylla kicked you out too."
"Shut the fuck up!" Reyna snapped. Any anger that she was holding back exploded, and she shoved her hand into her pocket to keep it from doing anything else. "What right do you have to-"
"What right do you have to call me a whore?" Thalia interrupted. She moved closer, so she was in Reyna's face. Reyna could hear how ragged both of their breathing was. "Truthfully, you're the only whore here. You fall for anyone who walks into the gym. Hell, I think you're reflecting onto me since you date the first person to pay attention to you."
"First, it was Jason because he sat with you at lunch. Then, it was me because you wanted to get back at Jason. Not to mention Gwen. I'm surprised that you haven't had a crush on Annabeth yet, or are you saving that for your fight with her? So you can feign having feelings for her and use it as a mind game."
Reyna felt tears of rage well up her eyes, and that only caused Thalia's smirk to widen. Reyna wanted to make Thalia feel just as bad as she did, but the woman had gone for the jugular and wasn't letting go. She couldn't find the words to ask Thalia who the hell she thought she was.
"I wouldn't do that," Reyna finally defended. She grabbed the door tightly, ready to slam it into Thalia's face. Thalia looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I don't need mind games to beat anyone!"
"I didn't just come here to break up with you. I had this whole speech prepared," Thalia claimed with a shake of her head. A regretful look crossed her face. Then, she seemed to steel herself, and the smirk came back to her face. "I was going to tell you that I cheated on you."
Reyna froze in place. She tried to process the words, but that didn't sound right. How could Thalia cheat on her? It didn't matter how upset Reyna was. She never would have cheated on Thalia.
"With Zoë," Thalia added. She tried to widen her smirk, but it was clearly forced.
"You cheated on me with your ex?" Reyna questioned. She felt a lump form in her throat, and she took a deep breath to keep from having more tears form in her eyes.
"Yeah," Thalia confirmed. "Weeks ago."
"Weeks," Reyna repeated, feeling sick to her stomach. Thalia nodded. Reyna looked away. It made so much sense now. That was why Thalia was so damn distant. Was that why Annabeth was acting weird? "Annabeth knew."
"Yeah, she did," Thalia confirmed. "And, she didn't care about you enough to tell you."
"Or, she was protecting you from another shitty decision that you have made," Reyna muttered.
"Like dating you?" Thalia questioned. Reyna knew that Thalia wanted to get the last word in, and Reyna... didn't.
"We're done, Thalia. I'm done with you," Reyna said with finality. "Just leave."
"I don't regret having sex with Zoë!" Thalia claimed proudly. "I'm happy that I did."
"Once a whore, always a whore. Right?" Reyna spat with venom. Those words slipped out as her anger was ignited once again. Thalia clearly kept wanting to get a rise out of her. Reyna opened her mouth to say more, and a slap caused a sharp pain to shoot through her skull. A hiss of pain left her as she still wasn't completely over her concussion.
"Reyna, I... shit," Thalia whispered as she seemed to realize what she had done. "I didn... I didn't mean for that to happen."
"You did," Reyna accused. She placed a hand to her cheek and traced the pain to a forming headache. She looked at Thalia. "You just wanted me to hit you, right? Because I'm so angry and can't control my temper. The truth is that I tried so hard, Thalia. I tried so fucking hard to open up, but I was scared to. I was scared of letting someone into my life and letting them get close, only for them to leave me."
Thalia looked away. She cleared her throat and seemed like she was trying to form words. Reyna spoke, "I'm done, Thalia. I don't care what else you have to say to me. Just leave me alone."
Reyna closed the door and stared at the floor. She should have felt angry that Thalia cheated on her. Angry about what she said. Instead, she felt sick. But mostly hollow. Reyna would have expected herself to punch a wall. Or even cry.
Instead, Reyna just walked towards the couch. She collapsed onto it and stared ahead. Her jaw ached from where she had been slapped, and her headache felt like it was getting worse. Reyna laid her head back and closed her eyes.
In the end, Reyna placed her forearm over her eyes and sighed deeply. Tears stung her eyes, but she didn't cry. Reyna didn't get it. She finally opened up and let someone in. Thalia took her damn heart and tore it up.
Reyna turned and buried her face into the couch cushion. She felt her two dogs rub against her legs, and she used her good hand to pat both of them. The one thing she was scared of happening had happened. What was the point of letting someone in if they were just going to tear her heart up like that?
And, Reyna knew that Thalia wanted to turn the entire thing into a screaming match. She wanted to rile Reyna up and get her angry enough to shove Thalia or even lay a hand on her. Anything for Thalia to justify her cheating and make herself out to not be the bad guy.
It probably would have worked any day but today.
What happened at the gym left Reyna angry, but it was going back home and being hit with the realization that she disappointed Lupa that drained Reyna of most of her energy. She wasn't sure how to deal with what had happened, and she didn't have it in her to rise up and meet Thalia's challenges.
Reyna should have just closed the damn door as soon as Thalia said they were breaking up. It would have saved them from an argument and saved her feelings at the same time. Reyna let out a shaky breath and just laid there on the couch, letting her mind drift anywhere that wasn't her ex.
She wasn't quite sure how much time passed. At some point, her dogs laid beside her before getting bored and moving somewhere else in the house. Reyna didn't move an inch. She just kept her eyes closed and kept her thoughts blank. If she decided to dwell, she would dig deep enough to find the energy to either punch a wall or cry her eyes out, and neither option sounded that appealing.
Whether she had fallen asleep or not she wasn't sure, but her eyes opened as someone walked into the house. The smell of pizza hit her nose, and she turned to watch Nico walk past her. He looked at her and smiled. Reyna just stared at him, face set in a scowl.
"Arm hurting?" Nico asked as he walked towards the kitchen and sat the pizza down. Reyna wanted to get up and follow after him. Instead, she stayed laying on the couch and stared ahead. "Reyna?"
"Thalia cheated on me," Reyna said. Silence filled the room, and she rested her cast over her face. A hand gently touched her shoulder a moment later. It took much longer for Reyna to look at Nico.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Nico asked in a gentle tone. Concern and suppressed anger danced in his eyes.
"I knew that opening myself up was only going to end with me being hurt," Reyna muttered as she averted her gaze and put her cast back over her eyes. "Why bother?"
"Reyna, don't shut me out," Nico pleaded in a soft voice. He sat on the ground near the couch and leaned against it, if the feeling of hair on her arm was anything to go by. "I'm not going to hurt you like Thalia did."
Reyna remained silent, but that didn't seem to deter Nico. He continued, "I am not going to leave you, and I'm never going to kick you out. It doesn't matter how angry we make each other. At the end of the day, I see you like a sister. I know you will never leave or abandon me if it were reversed."
"Hell, you almost died for me," Nico said softly. "I never told you this, but I still have nightmares about that. We didn't know each other that well at the time, but you still stuck your neck out for me. You stood up to Bryce and punched him in the face. And in return, he almost killed you. All because of me."
"That was the day I realized I found someone who would stick with me through thick and thin. I am never going to leave you, Reyna. We may get into arguments or hurt each other, but at the end of the day, we are here for each other," Nico promised. Reyna slowly lowered her arm and looked at him.
"Thank you," Reyna whispered. She swallowed painfully. "I'm going to do my best to not shut you out. Just please be patient with me."
"I will," Nico promised. "Let me bring you some pizza and beer. We can get drunk and play some games."
Reyna nodded and slowly sat up. She rubbed her eyes almost wishing that she would cry. Instead, she just stared numbly ahead. Nico gave her a gentle smile, but she didn't return it. Her gaze moved to the ground. She felt Nico pull her into a hug, and she did her best to return it. Then, Reyna buried her head into Nico's shoulder and allowed a few tears to fall.
"I can lie to Lupa and say you're sick if you don't want to go to the gym tomorrow," Nico offered gently.
"I'll consider it," Reyna muttered. She didn't know what would happen at the gym. First, there was Lupa who probably wouldn't be too happy that Reyna just walked out. Not to mention Annabeth. Reyna sighed and did her best not to care. She would just get drunk, and hopefully, the pain in her chest would go away.