"I'm sorry, Lupa. I'm really sorry," Reyna apologized again as Lupa closed the door to her office. Jupiter had been given copies of the contract, and he had finally left with Clarisse. For the whole time, all Reyna could do was stare at the floor as guilt gnawed at her gut.

"I shouldn't have signed that contract. I didn't know what Hedge wanted when he invited me to dinner. M...Mellie just told me that he wanted to take me to dinner, and I don't know... I just... I'm sorry. I was drunk when he offered the contract, and I just-"

"Do you want to leave my gym?" Lupa suddenly asked as she turned to face Reyna, a scowl etched on her face.

"No. Okay? It was dumb to sign it. I'm just upset-"

"About your mother?"

"Yes. I am upset about that, but it's not just that," Reyna began. Lupa watched her and didn't say a word. Reyna felt tears brimming in her eyes, and she looked down. "You... you treat me like I don't matter anymore."

"You are the one shutting me out, Reyna. I can't talk to you without feeling like I'm defusing a bomb," Lupa stated. Reyna glared at her through her now watery vision. "I understand that I hurt you in ways that I cannot begin to understand, but you can't just shut me out and expect me to be ok with it."

"It's because you-"

"-didn't tell you about your mother. I know," Lupa interrupted.

"No!" Reyna snapped. She wiped her eyes angrily.

"Then, what is it, Reyna? What have I done this time to make you do this?!" Lupa demanded angrily.

"You replaced me!"

The office fell silent. Reyna let out ragged breaths as she tried to check her temper. She felt sick to her stomach and terrible about everything with Hedge, and at the same time, she was still so angry at Lupa.

"What do you mean?" Lupa finally asked.

"Ever since Annabeth Chase came to this gym," Reyna began, but she couldn't finish her sentence. She rubbed her eyes again to try and wipe away the tears.

"You're jealous of Annabeth," Lupa breathed, discovery lacing her tone.

"How could I not be?" Reyna demanded. "You rolled out the red carpet for Annabeth, and I get it. You wanted someone like her in your gym. But then, you slowly started giving all your attention to her. The others go to her for advice. Then, the two of you went to lunch, and I just..."

"I invited you," Lupa pointed out after a few moments. "Mellie was supposed... to tell you. But, she was helping Hedge. I see that now."

"Everyone looks to Annabeth to be the leader when it should be me," Reyna continued softly. "I know that I haven't been fighting as long as her, but I've worked on my temper. I've learned from my mistakes. Yet, everyone looks to her."

"Because you pushed them away," Lupa stated. She pushed herself away from the door. "It's my fault that I didn't tell you about your mother. It is not their fault. You shouldn't shut out Frank, Hazel, or Annabeth. Yet, you still did. I see how you distance yourself from them. You carry this air of hatred and irritation. They don't go to you not because they don't look up to you, but because they don't want to overwhelm you."

"Everyone here cares about you, Reyna. You have been spiraling ever since you learned the truth about your mother, and I'm trying to help you. Everyone is," Lupa explained. "You don't realize it, but you are pushing us away. You're closing your heart to everyone because of what I did. Take it out on me. Not them."

"I don't... I don't want to take it out on anyone," Reyna whispered. She felt new tears fall from her eyes and slide down her face. A few deep breaths left her. "I can't talk about my mother with you, Lupa. I can't...trust you like that again. I can't open up to you. Not after what you did."

"Reyna…"

"I'm sorry, Lupa. I can't do this. I can't be in this gym anymore. I j-just..."

Reyna could feel herself losing it. She turned away and tried to leave. Before she could, a hand grabbed her shoulder. Reyna was turned around and pulled into a hug. Reyna tensed up and tried to pull away.

"Stop," Lupa ordered, tightening her grip on Reyna. "Stop, Reyna."

Reyna felt more tears stream down her face, and she found her attempt to pull away was futile. Shaky breaths slipped out of her as she tried to compose herself.

"I'm sorry," Lupa whispered. It sounded like she was also seconds from openly crying. "I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you, Reyna. Please just don't leave. I can't lose you. You're like a daughter to me."

Reyna felt a shattering pain in her heart, and miserable cries were finally freed as Lupa held onto her. A hand gently rubbed her back. Reyna didn't hug Lupa back, but she didn't try to pull away anymore. Lupa spoke gently, "We don't have to talk about this, Reyna. I want to explain myself, but I know you're not ready. But please, don't leave me."

"I may have taken you in as a favor, but I have grown close to you," Lupa whispered. Reyna's shoulder shook as she cried, barely processing the words. "Just let it out. I'm here for you."

Reyna wasn't sure how long she had cried for. It could have been five minutes or five hours. When she finished crying, Lupa still held onto her and rubbed her back. At some point, Lupa sat her down and got her a wet rag for her face and a glass of water.

Now, Reyna was just staring at the ground not really aware of the world around her. She felt better, if only slightly. Now the only thing she felt was the guilt eating away at her gut. Her gaze flickered up, and she saw that Lupa was looking over the contract again. There was a knock on the door, and Octavian walked into the room.

"You asked for me?" Octavian questioned. He looked between the two of them, and a frown morphed his face.

"I need you to prepare a severance package for Mellie," Lupa said as she put the contract down. "Give her two months of pay and tell her that she's terminated. Effective immediately."

"Wait, what? What's going on?" Octavian asked.

"Get the others, and I will explain," Lupa answered. Cold fury still simmered in her eyes, and it only got worse as she looked through the contract more and more. Octavian frowned with a nod, and he walked out of the room.

Reyna looked back at the floor. She slowly spoke in a scratchy voice, "Lupa, the texts. They said that they were going to send Romy's old dealer his way. Is Romy still talking to that guy?"

"I don't know," Lupa exhaled after a moment. Anger stilled dictated her face, but she took a deep breath to suppress it. "He left early today too."

"I can tell the others what happened," Reyna said softly. "You should go to Romy and make sure he knows. Especially if this guy is going to pressure him."

"Are you sure?" Lupa questioned. Reyna nodded at the woman, and Lupa looked conflicted, but she grabbed her phone. "I'll call him and see what he says."

"Lupa, go to him," Reyna urged. She wiped her eyes again and stood up. "I can handle this."

Lupa nodded and looked like she was going to say something else. Instead, she turned and hurried out of the office. Reyna sat on Lupa's desk and buried her face in her good hand. She was not a fan of Romy at all, but he didn't deserve to have his sobriety ruined just because someone wanted to mess with Lupa.

Reyna rubbed her eyes. She hated that she even took the damn contract. Why did she even go to dinner with Hedge? She was so dumb. Reyna lifted her head, made a fist, and then dropped her face back onto it. A wince left her as she missed her forehead and instead caught herself flush in the eye. She probably deserved it anyway.

Crying had helped a little, but she needed to do something. Nico was right; she had been shutting people out, especially him, and just keeping it all inside. But, she just couldn't go to a therapist. They wouldn't understand what she went through. Sure, Reyna would tell them everything that had happened, but they wouldn't understand because they didn't go through it themselves.

But Hylla did.

Reyna almost punched herself in the face again. How could she be so dumb? Hylla went through the same damn thing that she did. Their mother abandoned both of them. Reyna walked out on Hylla, and while Hylla wasn't on the streets, she knew what it was like to not have anyone to rely on.

Hylla went to a therapist, and she could use what she learned to help Reyna. It wouldn't be the same, but it could help. On top of that, Hylla wouldn't judge her. And, Reyna truly believed that her sister wouldn't leave her. Hylla knew the pain of it, and neither of them wanted to go through that again.

Reyna grabbed her phone and sent a text to her sister to see when she was free. By the time she sent it, the rest of the team was gathered in the office. Both Hazel and Frank shared their confusion. Annabeth held a neutral gaze, but her eyes were narrowed slightly. Octavian just looked frazzled.

"Did Lupa catch you guys before she left?" Reyna asked.

"She just said that you would explain," Octavian replied. Reyna nodded, and she rubbed her eyes again. "What's going on?"

"Gleeson Hedge, the owner of the gym Clarisse is part of and Mellie's husband, tried to convince me to join his gym. He also has been using Mellie to learn personal information about everyone here," Reyna began as she slowly looked up.

"What do you mean by 'convince' you?" Octavian questioned.

"Took me to dinner," Reyna muttered. "Gave me a contract."

Octavian's eyes widened. He moved towards the desk and honed in on the contract. Octavian started to flip through it. When he reached the end, he gave Reyna a look. She just averted her gaze. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him shake his head.

"You signed it," Annabeth stated. Reyna slowly looked up at the woman and wondered how she could know. But, Annabeth had a perfect sight line of the contract. Reyna averted her gaze again.

"Reyna, are you leaving us?" Hazel asked in a quiet voice.

"You can't," Frank said quickly.

"I'm not," Reyna said after a moment, raising her good hand. She looked at her friends. "It's just... it's been a really bad month. Everything with Lupa just..."

Reyna shook her head and swallowed painfully as tears stung her eyes, "And, I'm sorry. I've been taking it out on all of you, and that's not fair. I don't want to push you guys away. You guys mean so much to me, and I..."

Reyna felt those tears leak out again, and she buried her face in her good hand. Someone wrapped their arms around her, and Reyna tried to hold back her tears. It was futile as a second person hugged her. It didn't take long for Reyna to break down again. This time in the arms of her friends.

She was still emotionally spent from crying in Lupa's arms. That didn't stop her from breaking down even worse. Reyna tried to stutter out apologies and tell her friends just how much she cared about them. About how they really are her family for the past few years. Instead, the tears got worse and worse until she felt like she was going to vomit.

Reyna knew she was at her complete and utter breaking point. Everything that had happened was finally enough to push her past her threshold, but it felt nice to get some of it out. Especially with her team, her family, there. Reyna just hoped that she wouldn't lose them.