A soft groan escaped Reyna as she slowly opened her eyes. She stared at the white walls of Will's clinic and groaned again. Reyna was so fucking tired of waking up in this place. She laid her head back against the pillow and placed both hands to her face.
The first thing she had to do was call her lieutenants and inform them about Octavian's death. If Nico didn't beat her to it. Reyna assumed that Nico knew she was here. Will told him everything after all.
Reyna slowly sat up, and a hand grabbed her shoulder. Her eyes shot to the side. Reyna's eyes widened as she saw Thalia sitting next to her. For once, Thalia wasn't wearing her mask. Her white shirt was crumpled and had a few coffee stains on it. Her hair was stuck up in one place and matted. She looked beautiful.
"You need to rest," Thalia insisted. "The doctor said he could heal some of the damage with your knee, but he also stressed that you needed to stay off of it for the next few days."
"Which means we can finally have that talk. If you'll tell your friend to put his gun away," Thalia commented. Reyna turned her head and saw Nico standing in the corner. She noticed the gun resting snugly in his hand. Sitting near Nico was Bianca.
"You can put the gun away," Reyna said after a moment. Nico snorted but tucked it back into his jacket. Reyna's eyes moved to Bianca. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Reyna. I'm more worried about you," Bianca stated. She shook her head and sighed in worry "Your lieutenants stopped by. I told them what happened. They promised to handle any of Octavian's supporters.
Reyna nodded and slowly rested back against the bed. Her stomach growled, and she gave Bianca a questioning look. Bianca nodded and stood.
"I should charge you for the mess in my kitchen," Bianca said, but there was a smile on her face.
"You two are the ones who fired a gun. I did nothing," Reyna countered.
"I was teasing you," Bianca replied. She looked at Thalia. "If you hurt her in any way, I'll make your life miserable."
"No need to torture me," Thalia began as she put her hands up.
"Oh no. Nothing like that," Bianca promised. A wicked grin came to her face. "I'll just ban you from my pizza shop."
Thalia gasped and quickly protested, "You can't do that!"
"I will if you don't treat her right," Bianca threatened. She turned and walked out of the room. Nico just glared at Thalia before following his sister out.
Thalia slowly looked at Reyna, and a look crossed her face. Concern? Worry? Anger? Was it because of the threat Bianca made?
"So. About that talk," Thalia began. "Jason told me you kidnapped him. Just to talk to me alone."
"You always had people at your side," Reyna answered with a shrug. Thalia shook her head. "It was the easiest solution."
"You could have just knocked on the door," Thalia commented.
"And have one of your vigilante friends open it?" Reyna countered. She groaned and laid back. "It would have worked if Octavian had just not been a fucking idiot."
"Why did he try to kill you?" Thalia asked after a moment.
"To seize my power. Fucker wouldn't even know what to do with it," Reyna remarked. She looked at Thalia. "Which is our problem. Your vigilante friend tried to kill me. Would have if Will didn't save me. How the fuck am I supposed to trust something like that won't happen again?"
"If you work with us-"
"I don't work with people," Reyna cut her off. She looked up at Thalia. "I told you that I'm always in control."
"Well, maybe you need to learn to let go of some of that control," Thalia suggested. Reyna glared. "What is your big plan, Reyna? Continue to be this kingpin that runs this place? What happens if someone better comes along?"
"No one is better than me," Reyna hissed. "And if there was someone gaining power, I would take them out."
"You mean killing more people?" Thalia questioned. She crossed her arms. "How can you just do that?"
"A bullet to the back of the head usually does the job," Reyna answered. "But, how can you lecture me? You and your friends run around preventing crime and thinking you're the heroes, but it's the fault of you and your friends that Octavian turned on me."
"There is a natural order to this world: the weak will fall to the strong. Vigilantes like you team up and create disorder. How am I supposed to tell these lowly gangsters to bow a knee if they see untrained, everyday people defying me?" Reyna demanded.
"Maybe, you should've thought of that before making plans just to see me," Thalia accused. Reyna's eyes widened. "My brother figured it out. Before Clarisse almost killed you, you seemed to have a new scheme once or twice a week. You were more focused on me than making sure you succeeded. After you nearly died, you stopped playing around."
"It's because you want me," Thalia stated. She stood and crossed her arms. A cocky smirk came to her face. "Granted, you couldn't handle me right now."
"I could," Reyna almost snarled. She shook her head. "And if I wanted you that badly, I would have just taken you out of your home whenever I wanted."
"But you didn't," Thalia countered. "Because you either didn't know where I live until recently, or there's something else going on. Are you that shy?"
"I'm not shy," Reyna shot back as she felt her face heat up slightly.
"Well neither am I," Thalia announced. "And I do want you, Reyna. I've had these stupid feelings, well beyond a crush, for months now, but that fact of the matter is I can't be with you knowing that you want to hurt my friends. Including Clarisse. But she's barely my friend."
"So, you want me to let her go without consequences?" Reyna demanded.
"Yeah, I do. I always wanted you to work with us," Thalia said. "I'm not a fool to pretend like I can change you completely, but we're always looking for a new member of our ragtag group."
"I have an empire," Reyna began.
"Of criminals who would stab you in the back the second they see an opportunity for power," Thalia interrupted. She crossed her arms. "Is that really what you want your life to be? Dead in a few years because someone got lucky and killed you."
"You want me to give up the state that I control just to help your group take down criminals elsewhere? That's even more dangerous," Reyna argued.
"Not with your help," Thalia said. Reyna shook her head. "What about a compromise then? You stop crime here. You stop stealing from banks and blowing buildings up."
"No deal. I love to blow things up," Reyna shot down. Thalia sighed and shook her head. Reyna looked down. She knew things would never work between them. Reyna was a criminal, and Thalia was a vigilante.
Reyna couldn't identify her feelings while Thalia stated them clearly. But, Reyna knew she wanted Thalia. She just didn't know how bad. Would these feelings go away after they slept together? Or would they intensify?
"I have feelings for you," Reyna said suddenly. She looked at Thalia. "But, I don't know what they are."
"Because of that… thing," Thalia guessed. Reyna smirked. "Hey, I'm dyslexic! It's hard to read stuff like that."
"I don't even remember what he called it," Reyna said with a shrug. She slowly laid back on the bed and folded her arms behind her head. "But, yeah. I have issues with my emotions. I just don't understand them like you do. Like normal people do."
"Everyone I talked to says I have a crush on you, but I don't get what that means," Reyna explained. Thalia slowly sat back by her. "I've never had a crush on someone before. I've never felt like this about anyone."
"You sure you don't hate me?" Thalia joked sarcastically.
"No. I know what hate is like. That's what I feel when I think of my father. Anger is another one I'm familiar with. But things like happiness, embarrassment, love. I've heard of them, but it just doesn't click. I just… I think something in me is broken," Reyna said softly.
"I don't think anything is broken," Thalia said softly. She grabbed Reyna's hand, and Reyna slowly looked at her. "Because you still feel these emotions, right? Even if you couldn't, you wouldn't be broken. I just think you might need help with them."
"Tried therapy. Doesn't work," Reyna muttered. She laid her head back. "I've only talked to a few people about this. But not a stranger. Not someone like you who I barely know."
"Do you want to know how I feel?" Thalia asked. Reyna slowly nodded. "When I look at you, I feel this desire. I want you to be mine and only mine. It's not just about sex. I want to get to know everything about you. What makes you tick. What you're thinking."
"And, I just want to be with you. I used to think I had a simple crush on you, but it's not. I really have feelings for you," Thalia confessed. "Does any of that sound like what you feel?"
"I don't know," Reyna muttered. She closed her eyes. "I just don't know how to describe it. I couldn't stop thinking about you. When I was planning, my mind kept drifting back to you. Do I want you? Or do I just want to sleep with you?"
"Only one way to find out," Thalia whispered softly. She cupped Reyna's face with one hand and leaned in close. "If you want to."
"I don't know," Reyna whispered. Part of her was content with not understanding her feelings. She would just continue to write down how her body reacted to her feelings and try to make sense of it that way. The other part of her wanted to explore these feelings deeper. To confront them headfirst and figure out what the hell they actually meant.
What if she did sleep with Thalia and lost interest halfway through? She knew it would mean she didn't want to go any further with Thalia and that she didn't feel anything like love. But if this new feeling that was more intense than what she felt for the other woman she slept with was somehow still the same thing, then what the fuck would love feel like?
"We don't have to if you don't want to," Thalia whispered. "I know your knee is hurt, and you probably wouldn't be comfortable."
"What if I lose my feelings for you?" Reyna questioned. "That just means I want to sleep with you and nothing else."
"Does that bother you? How does that make you feel?" Thalia asked. Reyna looked down. Thalia didn't get it. She didn't know how to phrase questions in a way that Reyna could begin to understand her feelings like Hylla could. Thalia didn't know how to describe emotions when she questioned Reyna like Bianca did.
"I don't know," Reyna said in frustration. "That's what you don't get! I don't fucking know!"
"Hey, calm down," Thalia whispered. She slowly brought her other hand to Reyna's face. "I get that you don't understand, but I don't want to have sex with you if you don't want it. No matter how much I do. That's why I need to know."
"I want sex, but I don't want whatever I'm feeling to fizzle out halfway through," Reyna muttered. She tried to look away, but Thalia didn't let her. "It's happened before."
"That makes it easier," Thalia said. "If your feelings disappear, we stop. It means you wanted nothing more than sex, and that's okay. Sometimes, people just need to get laid. I'm sure you had plenty of people throwing themselves at their feet to satisfy you."
"They've tried," Reyna muttered. "Or, did you forget that I'm always in charge?"
"You gonna handcuff me again?" Thalia teased. Reyna didn't answer. "Hey, I'm a good listener. Just tell me what to do."
Reyna shook her head. Thalia spoke, "Wait. You like to be in charge and on top, but you don't receive, do you? Just give?"
"Do you have to put it like that?" Reyna groaned. Thalia studied her.
"Are you a virgin then?" Thalia questioned.
"I've had sex," Reyna muttered.
"But, you've never been penetrated," Thalia assumed. Reyna felt her face heating up beneath Thalia's cold hands. "Not by a guy? Fingers? A toy?"
"You sound just like Nico," Reyna grumbled as she pulled away.
"Reyna, sex isn't about power," Thalia began.
"I know. Nico told me it should be fifty-fifty," Reyna said as she crossed her arms and looked away. "But, why would I give someone else control?"
"It's not giving them control, Reyna. It's giving them trust," Thalia corrected. "When I handcuffed myself, I was putting a lot of trust into you that you wouldn't hurt me. That you would treat me right."
Trust. When was the last time Reyna trusted someone? There was Nico and Bianca. Also her sister. Barely. But other than that, she just didn't trust anyone. How could she? Her entire life was spent by herself. Relying on herself.
"How?" Reyna slowly asked. She pulled away from Thalia's cold hand and rested her head back on the pillow. "How do I extend trust?"
"Let me show you," Thalia whispered. She smirked at Reyna and then gently kissed her. "I won't do anything if you don't want to."
Reyna pulled away from the kiss. Thalia started to pull away completely, but Reyna gently grabbed her face. She studied Thalia. Could she extend trust like that? Could she let someone else have the power? Reyna gently kissed Thalia as she knew her answer.
"I'm on top," Reyna said. Thalia studied her for a moment. Then, she nodded and kissed Reyna back. It almost looked like she was disappointed. Was it because Reyna wanted to be on top? Or was there something else to it?
"Alright," Thalia relented. She smirked. "How are you going to do that with your knee?"
"Shut up," Reyna retorted as she kissed Thalia again. She deepened the kiss and forced the other woman onto the bed. Reyna pressed her good knee into the bed to keep herself stable. As Thalia tried to make some kind of cocky comment, Reyna shoved her tongue into the other woman's mouth.
Reyna slid a hand up Thalia's shirt. Her skin was cold, and Reyna could feel goosebumps. As she moved closer, she shifted and winced as pain shot through her injured knee. Instead of focusing on it, she continued to kiss Thalia.
"What the fuck are you doing?" a voice demanded as the door slammed open. Reyna jumped and lost her balance. She fell onto Thalia and winced as more pain shot through her leg.
"Fuck," Reyna groaned. Thalia gently laid her back on the bed. Reyna slowly looked up at Will. The doctor gave her a long, hard look.
"There is no sex when you are supposed to be resting," Will snapped. He looked at Thalia. "Out."
"Woah. Okay, I'm going. I won't have sex with her today," Thalia began as she stood.
"Or for a week," Will added sharply. Reyna felt her face turning red, and it heated up immensely. "I'm serious, Reyna. You need to rest your damn leg. Understood?"
Reyna nodded. She knew better than to argue with Will. It would just end with her unconscious with too many drugs in her system. Thalia spoke, "You should listen to the doctor. I'll see you later. A date maybe?"
"A date?" Reyna slowly asked.
"You know. Getting dinner. Hanging out. Maybe a little more," Thalia said with a suggestive smirk. Getting dinner? Reyna had done that before. She had plenty of associates that she had dinner with when she was figuring out if she could use them or just have them killed.
"Okay," Reyna agreed. "A date. Next week. There's a steakhouse not far from here. Meet me there at six."
"At six," Thalia confirmed. She kissed Reyna one more time. "It's a date."
