A/N: Here's chapter four! WARNING REYNA IS 8 MILLION PERCENT OOC BUT SHES ALSO WONDERFUL SO I THINK YOU GUYS WILL STILL LIKE HER. Also Bobby's in this chapter and Smart Girl and I totally made up his character since he doesn't actually exist in HoO grrrrr.
Anyway hope you like it please review!
ALSO WARNING PIPER FANS MIGHT NOT LIKE THIS CHAPTER. JUST KEEP IN MIND SHE'S ANNOYING FOR THE SAKE OF JASICO.
Chapter Four
Nico really, really hated New Jersey. But it was where Reyna lived, so he had to go. Keeping his eyes closed as much as possible without dying to avoid any spray-tan sightings, he made his way to Reyna's pseudo-mansion. It was technically a legit mansion, but Nico liked the prefix "pseudo," so he called it that anyway. He walked through the always-open door and collapsed on her couch.
"Nico! Great to see you. I'm not wearing pants, though." Reyna greeted him.
"Shhh. I'm gonna start dating your couch." Nico replied, slightly muffled by the upholstery.
"Don't you have a boyfriend?"
"We broke up. I needed a place to crash. You don't mind, do you?"
"Nah. Are you ok? Do you want tea? Cookies? Just a lot of alcohol?" She immediately started fussing over him like a mother hen.
"I'm good. I just need time, I think. Sleep. Not Manhattan."
"I gotcha. Still, all the way to Jersey? That's some breakup."
Nico shrugged uncomfortably. "Yeah, well…"
"I'm gonna put on pants now."
"You do that."
Reyna returned a minute later with pants and a plate of cookies. "I was hungry." She explained.
Nico raised an eyebrow. "You're always hungry."
"And your point is? Have some. Chocolate fixes everything."
"That is such a lie," Nico said, even as he grabbed a cookie. One bite and he was moaning. "God, these are good."
"Duh. These are my patented fix-everything cookies. Oh, and I just got some peppers from Puerto Rico, so we're having tacos in about…" She checked her watch. "53 minutes."
Nico frowned, chewing thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, the last time you made tacos, I ended up having a baby kangaroo in my apartment."
"These won't be my Tipsy Tacos. Just normal ones. With a splash of tequila."
Nico nodded. "Good. I don't think I could deal with a kangaroo right now."
"No kangaroos." Reyna agreed. "I promise."
53 minutes later, they were eating Reyna's (amazing) tacos and Nico noticed Reyna was staring at him. "Is there something on my face?" He asked.
"Yes, actually. But I'm actually trying to figure out if you're ok. You can tell me about it."
Nico wiped his face with a napkin and sighed. "It's… complicated. I found out Percy was getting married."
"Ouch." Reyna winced in sympathy.
"Yeah. And then it turned out my boyfriend, you know, the one I started dating to make Percy jealous, actually fell in love with me. A year and a half ago."
"Eww. That's no good. What was he like?"
"Well… A lot like Superman, actually."
Reyna looked up thoughtfully. "I knew a guy like that. But I'm pretty sure he had a relationship with a brick, so you wouldn't be his type."
"Well, I don't know. He did manage to pass out a slightly ridiculous amount of times. It was kinda weird."
"And that of course had nothing to do with your copious drinking?"
Nico looked at his shoes until Reyna punched him in the arm. "I was just kidding, Angel."
"Don't call me that."
"Aww, but you're so cute!"
"Shut up."
"J-man! What's with the face?" Percy asked, sliding up next to Jason. He cringed "Sorry, that sounded better in my head."
"It's fine. I'm just feeling a little down."
"And would this have anything to do with a certain sulking, broody teenager?"
Jason rolled his eyes and grabbed another beer. The bar was practically unattended since the bartender was currently making out with his stunningly beautiful girlfriend. "He's 21."
"Shhh." Percy put a finger to the other man's lips. "He's still 12 in my brain. And you're ignoring the question."
"It's… complicated." Jason replied, not meeting Percy's gaze. He didn't want to tell him that Nico had only asked him out to make Percy jealous. Nico wouldn't like that.
"Complicated how?" Percy asked in his best therapist voice. It wasn't very good.
"Complicated." Jason sighed. He knew Percy wouldn't leave him alone without an answer, so it was time to make something up. "I don't know if you heard, but we had a fight. We both said some pretty nasty things. I know I… said things that touched a nerve. He walked out. I haven't seen him since."
Percy patted the man's shoulder. "Jason…" He said, as if imparting great wisdom. "You screwed up."
"Tell me something I don't know." Jason muttered into his beer.
"Bet you don't know that you two will get back together."
"Yeah right."
"Are you kidding me? You two are as in love as me and Annabeth. It'll happen. You'll see."
Mentally, Jason scoffed. I wish. All I was to Nico was a prop. A ploy to get the man he really loves. And I can't even hate him. Either of them. But all he did was shrug and say, "We'll see."
A few days after Calypso had arrived, Annabeth came to the realization that she and Percy were the only ones who were happy. Rachel wasn't showing up as often anymore, saying she was busy. Thalia had family issues to deal with. But Annabeth was really worried about Leo and Jason. Nico had stayed away and Jason seemed to be suffering for it. He was drinking more than he usually did, and more often, too. Leo had mentioned that Jason was coming in even when the group didn't meet up. And speaking of Leo, the man's early happiness had faded. Even when he was with Calypso, he seemed distant and worried. Annabeth was sick of it and wanted to make sure all of her friends could come to the wedding. She resolved to get to the bottom of this.
"Hey Jason." The man already had a few beers under his belt, which was to Annabeth's advantage. "What's up?"
"Nothing. Just beer." Jason muttered, taking another swig.
"Why so much?"
Jason raised an eyebrow. "We always get really drunk here. It's tradition."
"That is true." Annabeth admitted. "But it's 5 o'clock on Tuesday. The others aren't even here."
"Huh? Then why are you here? Percy's here, right?"
"Nope. Just us. And Dakota, but he's looking a little tipsy, so I don't think he really hears us."
"You're at this bar… without Percy?" Jason seemed to be having trouble processing what was happening, making Annabeth wonder just how long the man had been there.
"Yes Jason. I do go places without him sometimes. But what I haven't ever seen is you and Nico not together. You two have practically been glued together for the past three years. Where is he?"
Jason let out a short, bitter laugh. It sounded wrong coming out of Jason's mouth. "Jersey."
"Jersey? I thought Nico hated Jersey."
"Apparently he likes it better than he likes me."
"Why do you say that?"
"'Cause he left me. For Jersey." Jason swallowed the rest of his beer and wiped his arm across his face.
"I'm sorry, Jason. Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Will you promise not to tell Percy?"
Annabeth nodded.
After Jason had finished his story, Annabeth understood why he was drinking heavily on a Tuesday. "Jason, that's awful. Why didn't you say anything?"
"Oh yeah, I'll just say, 'Hey guys, remember how me and Nico were super close? That was all a lie to make Percy jealous and now he's left me 'cause I fell in love with him.' Oh yeah, that'll work." Jason ordered another beer, but Annabeth shook her head at Dakota.
"Jason, you can't just drink yourself into a stupor."
"Why not?"
"Because you'll die."
"So?"
"Well, if I'm right, and I usually am, somebody will be needing a best man and you'll be his first choice."
That made Jason pause. He blinked, confused. "Who?"
"Leo. If Rachel did her job, he should be going to propose any day now."
Jason looked lost. "Wait, what? What's been going on?"
Annabeth patted his shoulder. "Let me catch you up."
Rachel groaned. Why did Annabeth have to be such a great person that it was impossible to get mad at her? If she had said no to Annabeth, she could be out with… people. Well, really only one person. But no, she had to say yes and now she was sober (which hadn't happened much in the past 4 or 5 years), and trying to be a relationship counselor for Leo Valdez.
"Why are you so freaking depressed, man? Your girlfriend is home and everything's going great." Mentally, Rachel kicked herself. Who talks like that?
Leo plastered on a fake smile. "I'm not depressed. Leo Valdez doesn't get depressed."
"Dude, just stop. What's wrong?"
Leo sighed, mask slipping off his face. "It's about Calypso."
Rachel gasped. "You are not breaking up with her."
"No! Of course not. But I think she came back to break up with me."
Rachel stared at him for a full minute. "Are you insane?! She's totally in love with you!"
"Oh yeah?" Leo burst out, suddenly angry. "If she's so in love with me, why does she keep having to go to 'business meetings' with her dad? She hates her dad." He slumped down, energy spent. "She's probably meeting with somebody else. She came back to see him and dump me."
Rachel stood up, walked to the nearest easel, picked up a paintbrush, and chucked it at Leo's head.
"What was that for?"
"For being a complete idiot. You are not going to throw away a beautiful girl and relationship because of your self esteem issues."
"But she's so beautiful and rich and I'm… not."
"You think she cares about that?" Rachel was getting angry now. "Dude, she and I are basically the same person. She doesn't like rich dudes. They're mostly slimeballs. And when by some miracle, we get to meet a nice guy who really likes us, the last thing we're gonna do is let him slip away! Have you lost your mind? Do you want to break your heart and hers? 'Cause you're nuts if you think I'm gonna let that happen."
"But if she's not seeing somebody else, then where is she going?"
"Business meetings with her dad, like she told you. She's organizing something. It might even mean she gets to stay here permanently." Leo perked up and Rachel held up a hand. "But don't let her know I said anything. Now go find your girlfriend. She probably misses you."
Leo got up to go, but paused halfway to the door. "Hey Rachel, I need some advice."
"What now?"
He pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. "What do you think? Will she like it?"
Rachel went over and inspected the ring. It was just one simple diamond, but it was beautiful. "Leo, it's gorgeous. She'll love it."
"I hope so. Wish me luck."
"Go make her happy, Valdez."
Calypso was checking her makeup for the fifth time when Leo (finally) came over. She had been on pins and needles all evening. She had invited Leo over spontaneously, which was not her strong suit. Usually, she had known about their dates for at least 24 hours beforehand, leaving her with plenty of time to plan everything. Now she had texted Leo, started dinner, and gotten ready all within 45 minutes. Then she had wandered around her apartment, trying to find something to do before Leo got there.
"Hey bae!" Leo said as he entered, giving her a bear hug. "I didn't realize this was business casual."
Calypso frowned for a moment, then realized. "Oh sorry, I was in meetings with my dad and forgot to change." She looked down at her jacket/dress pants outfit. It had looked great in the board room, but didn't scream 'Please propose to me, you idiot'. "I'll just go and change. Will you keep an eye on the food? And no adding anything." She walked back to her room, taking calming breaths.
"I still say some peppers couldn't hurt!" Leo called. Calypso rolled her eyes. He was so ridiculous sometimes.
She came back in jeans and a t-shirt and kissed him on the cheek. "It should be done now. Can you get the plates?"
Between the two of them, they soon had the food set out and sat down to eat. They made small talk, mostly, until the end of the meal. "So why were you meeting with your dad anyway? You hate him." Leo asked.
"I told you," She chastised him, "I don't hate him. We just have… disagreements over some things. But the meetings are a necessary evil. I don't want to get your hopes up, but I might be able to make a permanent relocation."
"You might be able to stay here?" Leo looked like a two-year-old on Christmas morning. "That's awesome! And.. it makes this easier." He took a deep breath, then stood up, pulling her up with him. "Calypso, you're the most amazing girl I've ever met. You're kind and funny and you listen to my ramblings about all the stuff I want to make." They both chuckled a bit. "And you… You make me a better person. I'm happier and I feel better and I think I might make you happy sometimes too. But I want to make you happy all the time." He slid onto one knee and pulled out a small box. "Will you marry me?"
Calypso had had a lot of wonderful gifts in her life. Having a father who was very rich and felt very bad about the things he had done that led to that. But all the bracelets and necklaces encrusted with precious stones in the world couldn't compare to the ring that Leo was holding up to her. "Yes, Leo. Yes I will."
Nico woke up to the smell of delicious food. "Reyna, I love you."
"Careful, Nico. The couch might hear." She walked around the kitchen, pant-less, adding ingredients here and there.
"Too bad." He stumbled down the stairs. "Reyna, why do I have a hangover? I thought you said they weren't the Tipsy Tacos?"
"They weren't." She replied, sounding way too clear-headed. It wasn't fair. "We just had whiskey milkshakes."
He rubbed his face. "Why did we think that was a good idea?"
"Well, I believe your logic was that you couldn't get drunk if there was milk involved. Evidently, you were wrong." She stirred the pan and tasted it. "Do you think this could use a little rum?"
"Please no. I need your hangover remedy." Nico flopped onto the couch (which was still amazingly comfortable).
"This is the hangover remedy. I just think it would taste better with some rum."
"I don't care how it tastes." Nico moaned. "Just no alcohol, please."
Reyna set a steaming plate of food in front of him. "FIne, but soon you'll be hungry and I'll make something with alcohol. I always say, 'Only one meal without alcohol a day.'"
Nico stared blankly at her. "I have never heard you say that in my life and I've known you since fifth grade." His phone buzzed. "Hey, Leo's getting married."
"Ooh, who's he marrying? And who is he?"
"He's marrying Calypso. Really hot Greek girl? And he's the Spanish dude from Texas."
"Ooooooooh. Is that the one I had a thing for?"
"Yeah." An idea dawned on him. "Hey Reyna! I need a date!"
"You want me to set you up?"
"NO. I was more thinking you come with me to Leo and Calypso's wedding."
Reyna considered the idea. "Do I have to wear pants?"
"I don't know. It's not my wedding."
"Will there be delicious eatables and/or free drinks?"
"It's a wedding."
"Sweet. I am THERE!"
"Grazie."
"YO, Bobby. I need a favor," Jason called as he walked into the salon. He nodded hello to Gwen and Butch, the other stylists, before starting with the client that the receptionist Dakota (yes, the same one who worked at Leo's bar) pointed him toward.
"What is it, dahling? Anything for my favorite blond." Bobby replied, walking around the salon, inspecting the styles. He was the boss and a bit of a perfectionist about hair. He was always changing his own style and today was sporting bright blue locks artfully swept across his forehead.
"I've got a double wedding in two weeks. I'm gonna need Monday off." He explained, getting the client settled down and starting the cut.
"Oh, do tell. Who is it? Tell me everything."
"You don't know them." Jason deadpanned, not wanting a gossip session about his friends. "Can I still go?"
Bobby huffed. "I suppose. But if you can get me in, you get Tuesday too."
"Deal."
A slow, valley-girl voice interrupted. "Are you going to a wedding?" Piper, the third stylist, walked up. She leaned in close, large eyelashes fluttering in Jason's face. "I could be your date."
Jason backed up, eyes pleading Bobby for help. "I'm good. I was planning to ask… somebody." Not you. He thought.
"Piper, hun." Bobby interjected. "I don't think that look is working for her. Here, darling, let me help you."
"But Bobby," Piper drawled. "I'm trying to get Jason to realize that he's straight."
In that moment, looking into Bobby's eyes, Jason knew what true fear was.
"Hun, your client's gonna get upset. Client is always the most important thing. And I want to see you after work."
Piper rolled her eyes and sauntered off, mouthing call me at Jason.
Then an idea came to Jason. "Hey Bobby, can I make a personal call? It's about the wedding."
"Oh, hun, you go right ahead."
"Thanks." Jason called Reyna. "Hey, RaRa, wanna go to a wedding?"
"Will it require pants?"
"Yes, Reyna."
"Will there be food?"
"It's a wedding."
"All right. You've convinced me."
"Sweet. It's in Manhattan. You remember Percy and his really hot girlfriend?"
"You mean the one I had a thing for?"
"Yeah. They're getting married."
"OH YEAH! I am THERE!"
"Love yah, RaRa."
A/N: Hope you liked it, please review!