"You're being a prick."
"You're being a bitch."
"Enough!" Percy yelled as he felt his temper flare for the last time. This last week had been irritating, and the week wasn't even over yet. Percy could not handle his two cousins fighting, and it didn't help that Reyna barely talked to him when Thalia was around.
Percy understood that people could get mad at each other and have issues, but he knew they also needed to leave it at the door. Reyna seemed to be doing her best to do that, but Thalia wasn't. It was starting to clearly piss off Reyna even more, and that pissed Nico off too. Thalia and Nico had been arguing for literal days.
Whenever the two saw each other, they just started blasting off insults. Plus the name calling. It was like they were teenagers. It had been four days, and Percy had enough. The arguing was going to stop. Now.
"We are having a cousin meeting right now," Percy ordered as he locked the door to their office. His gaze moved to Thalia and Nico. Thalia had her things and looked ready to go. Nico was gripping his soda bottle as he moved towards his chair.
"I already know you're going to side with Nico, so there is no need to start this meeting with just the three of us. In fact, I want Jason here, so he can take my side," Thalia demanded.
"Then, I'll get Hazel," Nico countered.
"She's your half-sister, which makes her a half-cousin. It doesn't count," Thalia argued.
"And, you have a half a brain cell, so-"
"Enough!" Percy hissed. He felt this temper spike, and both hands moved to his temples to contain his growing headache. "Enough fighting. We are not in high school. We are adults."
"Like you're going to lecture us about being an adult," Thalia grumbled.
"As if you could lecture anyone about that," Nico shot back at Thalia.
"Stop," Percy said again. He took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Stop. This has gone on too long. Both of you sit down and shut up until I talk to you."
"You can't tell us what to do," Nico shot back. Percy glared at him. Thalia tried to shove past him, but Percy blocked her path. He crossed his arms as he looked at the two. "I don't have to be nice to Thalia when she is being an asshole to my best friend."
"You should take my side over Reyna's anyway. I'm your cousin," Thalia muttered as she crossed her arms.
"And Reyna is like a sister to me!" Nico snapped as he turned on Thalia and tensed. His fists clenched for a moment before he folded his arms and let out an angry huff. "If someone was acting like that to Jason, wouldn't you be upset?"
"I would think that Jason would be enough of an adult to handle things on his own, and I wouldn't have to fight his battles," Thalia answered heatedly.
"I've seen you fight plenty of his battles," Nico challenged. Thalia glared. Percy watched the two and relaxed slightly. At least the yelling had stopped.
"I have to pick Annabeth up," Thalia excused as she tried to get by Percy again, but he wouldn't let her. "Let me pass. Annabeth's car is giving her more issues, and I'm not going to keep her waiting."
Percy grabbed his phone and shot Annabeth a quick text. Thalia stared at him for a few moments. Then, her eyes narrowed into a glare. Percy spoke, "There. I told Annabeth that you would be a few minutes late because we're sorting out this problem between you and Nico."
"It's not a problem between me and Thalia. It's between Thalia and her stupid pride making her be an ass to Reyna," Nico corrected. Thalia opened her mouth, and Percy raised his hands before they could start shouting again.
"Nico, you are being mean to Thalia, and I know that it is because of how she is treating Reyna. It's not fair for either of you to act how you are," Percy cut-in as he gave both of them a pointed look. His gaze focused back on Thalia. "Why did you say that?"
"I don't know," Thalia muttered. She sighed and slowly walked towards her chair. Thalia threw herself into it as Percy leaned on the wall.
"You do know," Nico said in a soft voice. He slowly cracked open his soda and took a sip. "It's just a stupid reason, so you don't want to tell us."
Thalia sighed in resignation and nodded. She spoke, "I have spent all of these months thinking that I could have a relationship with Reyna. All I had to do was find the perfect way to tell her how I feel and make sure that she likes me back. Her mother changed everything."
"Thalia, it's hard to stand up for yourself when it comes to something like that," Percy said as painful memories threatened their way back into his mind. He swallowed painfully. Thalia fixed him with a frown.
"I know, Percy. It's not really that. I hate that Reyna just let her mother hit her, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was what her mother said about her sister. Just throwing around nasty names because someone is a lesbian. And Reyna didn't stand up for her sister," Thalia explained.
"If Reyna and I started to date, we would either have to hide our relationship from Bellona, who seems to be a large part of Reyna's life; or, Bellona will force Reyna to break up with me. I saw how much you were hurt, Percy. I didn't want that to happen to me."
Percy frowned as he listened. It did suck to watch Annabeth fall in love with another man, and Percy had pretty much cut Annabeth out of his life for too long. He regretted it, and he knew that he had another chance now to ask Annabeth out. She was still getting over her heartbreak, though.
Percy knew that he was hiding between too many excuses, but working up the courage to ask Annabeth out seemed nearly impossible. It was probably the exact same as how Thalia felt, but they had to find a way to push past their fear.
"What right does that give you to treat Reyna like this?" Nico demanded. His inquisitorial glare focused on Thalia, and he crossed his arms. "You are the one who has the crush. You are the one who has all of these worries about what might and might not happen."
"I don't know, Nico! Can you get off my back?!" Thalia snapped. "Or, should I get you a ladder?"
"Stop making short jokes!" Nico hissed. Percy groaned. These two would fight over anything.
"Thalia, you acted like a child," Percy called out as he looked at Thalia. His cousin rolled her eyes and looked away. "I'm not trying to gang up on you with Nico, I am just pointing out what I saw."
"Reyna was going to ride a motorcycle for you. Do you have any idea how big that is?" Nico questioned. It sounded like he was barely keeping his temper under control. "She won't talk to me about this. I know that she's hurt and upset by what happened, but she won't tell me anything because she doesn't want to talk bad about my cousin."
Thalia crossed her arms and looked down. She finally spoke, "I heard Bellona say that she paid for Reyna's apartment and her surgery. She said that they have an agreement. What was it?"
Nico sighed and seemed to think about it. He spoke, "Don't tell Reyna that you know this. She'll kill me if I say anything. Reyna was in a really bad place after leaving the army, and there were some hold ups when it came to what benefits she would get from being discharged. Plus she didn't have a job. And, the nightmares and flashbacks overwhelmed her."
"Bellona paid for Reyna's apartment, and when Reyna screwed her knee up, her mother paid for her surgery. Hylla tried to help, but Bellona boxed her out, probably to keep control over Reyna," Nico explained. Anger washed his face, and he looked down. "To pay her mother back, Reyna was supposed to attend any political events."
"People eat up the story about how Bellona was a general in the military and her daughter followed in her footsteps only to be honorably discharged after some horrible accident. People ask Reyna all kinds of questions, and I know she hates it. She can't keep reliving that story," Nico muttered.
"Can Reyna just pay her mother back?" Thalia asked in a quiet voice. There was a frown on her face. "Or tell her mother to screw off? It's not like they signed a contract or anything, right?"
"Reyna doesn't have that much money right now," Nico answered. He seemed to be more relaxed, and Thalia did as well. Percy really hoped that the two of them were done arguing. "Reyna also doesn't like to owe people. She pays back her debts, and I just know that Bellona loves to rub it in her face. Reyna's not going to just tell her mom to screw off and not pay her back. She can be damn stubborn sometimes."
"It's something her mom can always hold over her head," Percy lamented. He sighed as he looked at his cousins. "Smelly Gabe used to do that. He would always tell my mom about how he kept us off the streets and gave us the chance at a good life. It's this form of manipulation, and it has to be worse for Reyna's own mom to do it to her."
"Bellona is an asshole," Nico muttered.
"We can agree on that," Thalia voiced with a sigh and stood. "I'm sorry for snapping on you Nico. I'll talk to Reyna tomorrow."
"You should do it now," Percy suggested. Thalia looked at him. Percy thought he was going to get cursed out, but Thalia nodded. She mumbled something that sounded like thanks and then left the office. Percy adjusted his sight to Nico.
Nico studied him for a moment before looking at the cameras. A silence fell over the room, but it was light and relaxed. Percy didn't feel a need to cut through the tension. Nico finally spoke, "Thank you, Percy. Sorry if I said anything mean."
"You? Apologizing?" Percy teased. "And thanking me in the same sentence. What is-"
Percy gasped in pain as he doubled over and placed both hands to his crotch. Nico just winced. Percy watched the binder that had hit him in the groin fall to the ground. His hands slowly reached out, and he grabbed onto Thalia's chair. Percy slowly sat down and shut his eyes tightly to blot out the pain.
"Sorry for that too. But you deserved it," Nico said. Percy didn't answer, mostly because he was in too much pain. "Don't be such a baby."
Percy groaned miserably. He was supposed to tell Nico to get hit there and see how he reacted, but his voice wouldn't work. Another groan left him as Gwen's voice called him over the radio for assistance. Nico spoke, "Might want to get that."
"I hate you," Percy grounded out.
"Love you too. Now get out," Nico ushered his cousin. Percy rolled his eyes and slowly grabbed his radio to respond to Gwen. Percy made it to his feet and gingerly limped out of the office. He had plenty of things on his mind, but stopping the argument between his two cousins would allow him to relax.
He still needed to focus on running the store by himself because soon it would just be him. Would Reyna be mad if he texted her when she went out on surgery? Because the thought of asking Lupa questions still intimidated him.
A sigh escaped Percy. He would just have to take it one day at a time. Some days it would have to be one hour at a time. For now, he would help Gwen out with whatever she needed. Then, he would find some ice.