disclaimer: rick owns what he own don't sue me
THERE'S ONLY one thing worse than unrequited love. It's when one falls out of love. Jason didn't strictly understand the words Reyna was uttering to him. He felt like a character from Charlie Brown, where the adults sound like they're speaking underwater. He didn't want to be here, in this exact situation, the one he thought would never happen.
Instead, he fixated on minor details.
Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. Her raven locks were pulled into a tight french braid like usual, eyebrows knitted in concentration. Her olive skin contrasted against the navy and cream colors of Laureate's uniform. Jason couldn't find anything wrong with her, she was his perfect girlfriend, and they had their perfect relationship.
Or so he thought.
"Jason," she sighed, "Are you even hearing what I'm saying?"
He blinked quickly, "No," he said sheepishly, "Sorry."
Reyna sighed once more, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and turning away from him. The parking lot was deserted, giving them privacy, "I think we should break up, you know, like, take a break." She faltered over the words, the only hint that any of this was genuine at all.
The scar on the side of his lip twisted as he frowned, "What do you mean?" he gave a short laugh, "Why would we do that?"
He knew that Reyna didn't make decisions like this lightly, but he couldn't think of a reason behind that decision.
She turned to face him head-on, her eyes cold with a new strength, "It's not working anymore, Jason. Haven't you ever realized? We don't really have that, spark," she eyed him, wondering how he would react.
"I, I still don't understand," he stumbled. No spark? What about all those date nights, the notes, he loved her. Didn't she love him too? Two and half years of dating wasn't meant to come to this.
"We date for convenience. Our lives intersect because of our parents. Our futures are going to be in the same industry. We run in the same social circles, and Jason, don't lie. I know your father is the one who first encouraged you to pursue me. And you went with it, you never questioned the real reason you love me, and neither did I. Until now," she looked meaningful at him.
"Reyna, I love you, and that's my own thinking, not my father," he rubbed his eyes. This couldn't be happening, Reyna and Jason, Jason and Reyna, that was all it was ever supposed to be. Jason knew he loved the girl in front of him. He loved her for who she was, not who their parents were.
"Well, that's how I perceive it, and that's how I feel," her voice was getting more clipped, and he recognized it as the voice she used when she was commandeering a room.
"But," he seemed lost, "Why? We're perfect for each other."
"There doesn't have to be a 'why' Jason. I'm just not in love with you anymore," Reyna looked down at her feet. Her relationship with Jason was fading, she had felt it for a while. She just didn't have the same feelings when she was with him as she used to. And deep down, she knew that in the future, if she did want to return to him, she could, because he would always be hers.
"Is there someone else?" Jason looked up at her, his eyes wavering.
"Will it help if there is?" Jason bristled at her cruel answer. This wasn't the girl he knew, the girl he'd grown up with. This wasn't the girl who tossed flour in his hair when they baked gingersnaps at Christmas, the one he chased past the waves in the Hamptons during long, guilty summers.
"Is there?" his voice rose slightly.
"Maybe. I don't know. I just don't have the same feelings around you anymore," she threw her hands up in the air, not meeting his eyes. She was frustrated that this had dwindled on longer than possible. Jason had always had a soft spot.
"But you have them around someone else," he accused.
"Yes," she looked at him defiantly. It was not the whole truth, only a half truth. Perhaps there might be someone she was interested in, but she would never pursue them without breaking up with Jason first.
She softened, trying not to be harsh, "I think you should take this back," she handed his jersey back to him, the one she used to wear at games. He realized the fact she had brought it to school today probably meant she had been planning this for a while. How long had she felt this way?
Jason could feel the anger rising in him, but Reyna cut him off, "Look, Jason, we can still be friends. I still care about you, just not that way, I think. I need time," and with that, she got out of his car, walking away from him, and the now shattered relationship, "I'm sorry," she whispered, not knowing who she was apologizing to.
He didn't want to realize it at first. His relationship with Reyna couldn't really be over. This wasn't happening. He was still in love with her, his best friend, his now ex-girlfriend. Was she really in love with another?
The more Jason thought about it, the angrier he became. Had she been cheating on him? Would she go pursue someone else now that she was finally done with him? He couldn't help the unintentional tear that ran down his face. He always knew Reyna was a cold person, but he never knew she would do that to him. He hated feeling helpless, weak. Worst of all, he had no idea what to do. Reyna was his first girlfriend, and although he might know his way around a textbook, he had no experience in matters of the heart. He certainly couldn't ask his father, Zeus had left his own trail of heartbreak in his wake. Nor his stepmother Hera, who he still wasn't entirely sure even liked him at all. Perhaps he could have asked Thalia, but she was away at college all the way on the West Coast, she probably didn't have time for his love problems.
Jason leaned against the steering wheel. Ironically, of all the people he wanted to discuss this newfound heartbreak with, it was Reyna, the instigator. But with that clearly out of the question, Thalia absent, and nobody at home, that left one person.
"Hey Perce, you busy tonight?"
"Will Maria make her famous mac and cheese tonight? I'm starved after swimming" The boy asked over the phone, as the sounds of water echoed behind him. Jason let out a short laugh. Percy had a one track mind when it came to the Grace household, and that was if he could eat the famous food Jason's housekeeper, Maria, made.
"If I ask her will you come?"
"Deal."
"Dude, she just left the car like that? That quickly?" Percy Jackson shoveled cheesy pasta in his mouth as Jason threw a linen napkin at him, "I knew Ramirez was cold but damn, that's cold, even for a frigid bitch like her." He took a swig from the bottle of Hennessy they'd stolen from Zeus' liquor cabinet.
"Percy," Jason clucked, both at the expletive and the pasta that was spilling onto the boy's hoodie.
"What? I always told you I didn't think you guys were right for each other. She was always too," Percy made a flapping gesture with his hand that Jason could only dream of understanding.
"That's not the point man, the point is I love her. And now what? She doesn't love me? Does she love someone else? What do I even do with that information? She says she wants to be friends but what does that even mean?" He paced the room, tugging at his hair as he got more and more distressed.
"Buddy, either cry it out or hug it out, but please stop pulling out your hair. If you're anything like Zeus you'll be prematurely balding like Prince William before your thirty," Percy quirked an eyebrow at him as Jason's pacing got more aggressive.
"I can't believe she'd throw away all those years like they meant nothing. I feel like I meant nothing to her, nothing!" Jason kicked one of the lacquered chairs, "I can't tell if I feel more stupid or insane right now."
"So make her regret it. Pretend like you don't care. There's nothing Reyna hates more than feeling insignificant right?" Percy stealthily stole the rest of Jason's pasta while he continued his moping.
Jason turned pensive, "Actually, there's one thing worse. Reyna hates feeling replaced." As Percy stared at his best friend, he pondered how similar Jason and Zeus looked when both got that glint in their eye. One of pure, cold calculation, that sent shivers down Percy's own spine as Jason turned to look at him.
"You still have Piper McLean's number, right?"
a/n: follow, fav, review etc. anything means a lot 3 i love thinking about what piper was like pre-HoO just wilding it up in the mortal world so ig that's my inspo for her character in this, sorry if it's slightly OOC.
