Disclaimer: I do not own the PJaTO franchise, nor do I really wish to. Maybe in name, but otherwise, I'll leave that Mr. Rick Riordan. The responsibility would crush me (even more than what I have to deal with now).

I also do not own Let's Not Fall in Love by BIGBANG. Don't ask why I'm using lyrics as linebreakers, but the habit is sticking. (I'm a VIP)

A/N: So, hey guys. Has it been really several weeks? It went by really fast, huh? School work has been really piling up and it's barely the first month. I haven't had the time to write or type out anything. Only a little 20-30 minutes sessions when inspiration hits.

Warnings: Language (as per usual), Characters Not in Character (also like usual), Sappy Romance (or at least, how I perceive it).

-Let's not fall in love, we don't know each other very well yet-

Paint Me a Better Tomorrow

Vll. Touching Up on Insecurities

-Actually, I'm a little scared,

I'm sorry-

Reyna stood in front of the library, her heart pounding in her chest. In her hand, she clutched a snowy owl plush and a pink rose. Since it was their first date, she thought it would be the right thing to get Annabeth a gift (or, two). The owl symbolizes how she thought Annabeth was not only smart, but also wise. And, it was cute, just like her. The pink rose, on the other hand, represented her admiration for the girl and her genuine happiness that her feelings were returned.

A giddy feeling settled into her stomach, as she entered the library. The smell of old books filled her sense and she smiled fondly. It reminded her of Annabeth. She eyed the tables among the shelves of books, looking for the girl, and grinned when she saw her blond hair peeking out from behind a particularly large textbook. With a slight bounce in her step, Reyna walked over to her date and gently placed her gifts onto the table, pulling the book away.

She was met with an adorable sight. Annabeth was lying facedown on the table asleep, her forearms pillowing her head. The book only served as a cover, so she wouldn't get caught. Either that, or she had fallen asleep reading it. Reyna guessed it to be the latter. She had noticed that Annabeth seemed awfully tired today, prominent bags under her eyes.

Even though it was their first date together, Reyna didn't have the heart to wake Annabeth up. The blonde just looked so cute sleeping there that she didn't mind waiting until she woke up to start the date. Reyna knew the girl needed the rest. So with a gentle hand, she brushed a piece of hair out of Annabeth's eyes, which she knew to be a beautiful gray. Then, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. Annabeth was just really too cute.

Reyna smiled and slumped back against a chair, pulling out her earbuds to listen to music while she waited. She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand and glanced at Annabeth. The blonde was still sleeping soundly. It couldn't hurt if she took a small nap.

. . .

"Reyna… Reyna… Wake up, Reyna." Her eyes snapped open and she blinked blearily.

"Huh? What?"

Annabeth giggled. "You fell asleep."

"Oh, shit!" Reyna sat up immediately, her eyes wide in revelation. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

"It's alright," Annabeth dismissed with a soft smile, her eyes glinting with amusement. "I feel asleep, too." She pouted. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You were just too cute," Reyna practically gushed and Annabeth blushed. "You also seemed really tired today, so I decided to let you rest a little."

"Thank you." Annabeth gave Reyna a sweet smile, her heart flooding with warmth from seeing that Reyna cared. She would have to get used to this feeling. Love.

Reyna grinned in return. She shyly pushed her gifts towards Annabeth. "These are for you."

"I know." Her smile grew to be endearing. "Thank you. I love it." She crinkled her nose cutely when she picked up the owl. "But, why an owl of all animals?"

"I thought it was fitting. You're really smart, but also wise in a sense," Reyna explained. "And, it's super cute. Like you."

Annabeth flushed a delightful pink and hid her face in mortification. "How can you say that without blushing? That's embarrassing."

"It's the truth," Reyna said, bringing a hand to stroke Annabeth's hair affectionately. "It's not embarrassing when it's the truth."

"You're really cheesy." Her voice was slightly muffled.

"I know." Reyna pulled Annabeth up to look at her, black eyes meeting with gray. "But, this isn't something I've done before. It's not everyday I get to be with you."

"I haven't done this with anyone else either," Annabeth admitted, her eyes shying away. "But, you're already sweeter to me than I could ever be to you."

"You don't have to be anything. You just have to be you."

Annabeth blinked once. Twice. Then, she broke into peals of laughter. "You have to be quoting from something."

"Yeah, I am." Reyna grabbed Annabeth's hand and pressed it above her chest, against her wildly beating heart. "I'm quoting from my heart."

"Reyna!" Annabeth punched her arm playfully. "Now, you're doing it on purpose."

"You love it."

Annabeth blushed. "Only when you do it."

"I...Wow," Reyna stammered. "This is the first time I've been absolutely speechless. You're something, Annabeth."

Her blush only deepened. She shook her head, playing with the flower Reyna gave her absently. "No, you're something else. You brought me a pink rose. Why pink?"

"It stands for admiration. I've always admired you. You were just so smart, something I've always wanted to be. It made you seem so.."

"Unapproachable," Annabeth supplied. She knew how that felt.

Reyna nodded. "Basically. It seemed like you were totally out of my league." She slid her hands across the table and wrapped them around Annabeth's tentatively. "But, I desperately wanted you to notice me. Basketball was the only thing I was good at, so I thought if I became a star player, I would get noticed."

"I did notice you," Annabeth replied, squeezing Reyna's hands softly. "Who didn't? You're amazing. Even Percy and Leo says so and they're one of the best at this school. I'm practically nothing compared to you."

"Don't say that, babe," Reyna said, making Annabeth blush at the pet name. She released one of the blonde's hands to cup her chin, stroking her cheek reassuringly. "You're amazing all on your own. It's unfair to compare you and me. We have different strengths and different weaknesses. We all have something that makes us special."

"But, what if I'm not who you think I am?" Annabeth asked, her voice trembled slightly. She pulled her hands away from Reyna, not meeting her eyes. This thing - whatever it was - with Reyna was lovely (even though it has barely even started), more than anything she ever dreamed of, but she was scared. "What if this is just a novelty and the feeling wears off? I'm nothing special. I'm just Annabeth Chase."

"And, that's why I like you," came Reyna's reply. "You're you. I wouldn't want anyone else. I can't promise you that I will always feel the same way towards you, but I want to give it a try. Like I said, I've never done this before. It's definitely not like a basketball game, where I can practice until I'm ready. Nothing could have prepared me for this. It's not going to be perfect. Far from it. But, I want to try. Will you give me a chance?"

"We barely even know each other," Annabeth pointed out. "We're inexperienced. I want to give you a chance, but something tells me it might not work."

"It's true that we barely know each other," Reyna agreed, "but that's what this is for. We didn't start out as friends or even acquaintances. It's a clean slate. We have plenty of time to get to know each other."

"And, if I'm not the person you had a crush on? What then?"

"I believe my affections run deeper than that," she replied, her voice soft. "I know there's more to you that the smart, top of the class student. I'm not jumping into this completely blind, Annabeth. I may not have done this before, but I know that I want you. I sure as hell don't know what I'm doing, but if there's one thing that I know for sure of, it's you."

Annabeth didn't reply, but Reyna could practically see the gears running in her head. "You're thinking too much, baby." When she saw the tears gathering at the corners of the blonde's eyes, she clenched her fists in anger. "Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rush you. I should have known you weren't ready. I'm sorry. I-I'll back off."

"No." Annabeth shook her head, tears falling steadily down her cheeks in frustration. "Please don't leave me. I'm sorry. You're not rushing me. i was the one who asked you. I just… it's just strange. I never felt like this before and I don't know what to do. I'm sorry for being so insecure."

Reyna softened. She stood up and walked over to Annabeth's side, pulling her into a hug. "It's alright to be insecure. I'm not all that confident either, but I'm still trying my best. If we are going to do this, just know that it won't always be smooth sailing. We will have our differences, but if what we share is just more than simple attraction, then I believe we will be just fine."

"I want to try," Annabeth said. "Oh gods, I really want to, but a part of me is scared. I've never opened myself up to anyone like this before. I've never felt so vulnerable in my life."

"Don't forget that I'm in the same boat," Reyna reminded. "I'm scared, too. This isn't something I'm used to feeling. But, overtime we can work out the kinks. We have to trust each other. I promise I won't do anything to hurt you intentionally. You're the best thing that's happened to me, Annabeth. I'm not letting you go that easily." Unless you want to go.

"Reyna…"

"Shhh. Don't think." She hugged Annabeth closer to her, stroking her hair with a gentle hand. "Just feel. Do what you feel is right."

Annabeth froze for a moment and closed her eyes. She grasped Reyna's shirt and breathed in her scent. She felt herself pulled flush against Reyna's body and blushed, but didn't struggle out of the hold. It was comfortable. It felt right.

They held each other for a while, Reyna murmuring sweet nothings into Annabeth's ear. As time went on, she became more and more sure of what she wanted. Reyna was right. She had been thinking too much. "Reyna, I know what I want now."

"Are you sure?" Annabeth could feel Reyna's breath hitch in anticipation.

She smiled against her neck. "I'm sure."

"What do you want?"

"You."

Reyna squeezed and laughed in exhilaration. "I'm so glad. I can't promise that this will be perfect, but I'm definitely going to do my best."

"I'm sorry," Annabeth apologized once again. "I ruined our first date."

"You can always make it up to me."

"How?"

A smirk graced her features. "Give me a kiss."

"Reyna!"

She pouted. "What? You already gave me one. What's one more. I'll even take you on another date this weekend."

"Fine." You could practically hear the pout in Annabeth's voice.

Reyna just chuckled. She took a quick glance at the clock and frowned. "I really wish I could spend more time with you, but I have to go soon. I have to work."

"What do you do?"

"I work at my sister, Hylla's, cafe," Reyna explained. "I'm sure you've heard of it, The Huntress?"

"Oh! It's one of my favorite cafes. I didn't know you worked there."

"It's only on the weekdays. Why don't I take you there this Saturday?" she suggested. "We're both comfortable at the Huntress and I also get a discount."

Annabeth nodded slowly, biting her lip. "So, is this goodbye?"

"Not just yet." Reyna tapped her cheek. "You owe me a kiss."

"O-okay." Annabeth leaned in to kiss Reyna's cheek, but instead, she was met with the basketball player's lips. She gasped and pulled away with a blush. "Reyna!"

"Sorry, babe, I couldn't resist," she said, sounding not so apologetic. "You're just too cute." She laughed when Annabeth hit her playfully and grabbed her hand, swiftly pulling the blonde into a hug. "Bye, baby. I'll see you on Saturday at 2." Before she left, Reyna gave Annabeth one last kiss on the cheek, rendering her speechless.

Annabeth could only watch Reyna's back as the girl hurried out of the library. 'Bye, Reyna.'

. . .

"You look happy," Percy commented the next day at school. "So, I guess it went well?"

"Even better than I thought" Annabeth confirmed with a smile. "We're done with our deal. What do we do now?"

"We deal with the bad news."

Percy and Annabeth shared an inquisitive expression. "What bad news?"

"After Yancy, we'll be playing Wilderness School," Leo said. He gave a them a grim smile. "After them, we play the Titans."

"So soon?"

Leo nodded, brushing his hair back in clear distress. "Unfortunately."

"Fuck," Percy cursed, slamming a fist into his textbook in frustration. "We'll never be ready in time."

Leo shook his head. "No, we have to be. There's no other way."

"It won't be easy," Percy sighed. "Last year, we were absolutely overwhelmed. We don't even have Luke this year."

"We don't need Luke." Percy looked up to see Octavian, a frown prominent in his features. "We have everything we need here."

"What if it's not enough?" Percy's voice grew quiet. "What if we're not enough?"

Annabeth laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "Have some faith in yourself, Percy. You have a couple of weeks to a month at best. If your team works hard enough, they will have a chance."

"Chase is right," Octavian agreed. "Have some confidence, Percy. You were made our captain for a reason. Leo, too. You're our treasured playmaker." At the mention of his name, Leo's expression darkened, which went largely unnoticed by everyone. 'I won't fail him again.'

"Both of you were chosen for your skills and leadership. But, you're not alone. You have me, Zhang, Nakamura, Underwood, the Stolls, your boyfriends, and Coach Nike. We're here for you. And, we'll get through this together."

Then, he smirked. "Luke is good, but you two are way better. You need to stop worshipping him. Besides, you have already met two gods, haven't you?"

"Who, Nico?" Percy gaped at him.

"Jason?"

"He never mentioned any names," Annabeth remarked with a raise of her eyebrow. The two blushed deeply and she laughed.

Octavian's lips sharpened at the corners. "I didn't need to. I am talking about their boyfriends after all."

"We're not dating," Percy and Leo sputtered simultaneously.

Annabeth once again added her two cents, "Yet."

"You don't know that," Leo said, shaking his head.

Both Annabeth and Octavian rolled their eyes. "It's obvious they like you," the said. "It's only a matter of time before they ask you out. Just..."

"You wait?" Percy interjected.

"I was going to say, 'Just have faith,' but that works, too, I guess." Octavian shrugged, his smirk softened to a smile. "Feeling better now?"

Percy nodded, biting his lip. "I guess so." A smile slowly crept onto his face, settling Octavian's worried for the moment. "The Titans won't know what hit them."

. . .

"Hey, di Angelo, Grace, can I talk to you for a second?" Octavian asked, once practice was over. He made sure that everyone had already left (Percy and Leo were talking with the Coach in her office), before approaching Nico and Jason.

"Sure," Jason said slowly. He walked over to the blonde, wondering what he wanted. "What's up?"

Nico was right behind him, a basketball tucked under his arm. "You wanted to talk?"

"Sit." He gestured to the bleachers beside him. Nico and Jason did as they were told, confusion marring their features.

"What's going on?"

Octavian ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "I'm sure you heard that we're playing The Titans in a couple games. I know you two are going on a date with Percy and Leo this weekend. I have a request."

"What is it?" Both boys leaned forward, listening with rapt attention.

"I want you to help them relax, keep their minds off of the upcoming games. Our training schedule has already been doubled. I don't want them to stress out."

"This game is that important to them, huh?"

Octavian scoffed. "It's important to all of us."

"Isn't revenge kind of petty?" Jason asked, not meeting Octavian's eyes. "I mean, it was just a defeat." Nico elbowed him in warning.

"You shouldn't say that," he hissed.

Octavian shook his head. "It's fine. You don't know. You weren't there. You didn't have to go through what we did."

"What happened?" Nico was almost afraid to ask, but he was curious. He wanted to know.

"You already know that the Titans defeated us soundly," Octavian began, his fingers clenched in a tight fist. "You also know that we lost Luke that day. He got injured. It was a knee injury and it caused him to be benched in the last quarter. It broke him to see us being torn apart so cruelly. The Titans were good, at least, their captain, Kronos, was. The other guys played every dirty trick in the book. It didn't take long before someone got injured in one of their games."

"Those fuckers."

"I haven't even gotten to the worst part. They, mostly Kronos, took us apart, using our abilities against us." His voice cracked towards the end, raw emotion pouring through. There was a glistening of tears in his eyes, but he pressed on. "Everyone had some kind of injury in the end, but we still kept going. We were going to finish the game no matter what. But, I really wish we didn't." His knuckles turned white and a tear fell, but if Nico or Jason noticed, they didn't say a word. And for that, he was thankful. "They mocked us by giving us a last chance. I remember it all too well. There was an opening for a drive straight down the middle. It was Leo who noticed it. It seemed almost too easy, but there was nothing else. There was no other way to go. So, he suggested for Percy to take the ball and just run. Percy almost made it to the hoop. It was almost a buzzer-beater, but they stopped him. They blocked our chance of redeeming ourselves and we loss. It was absolutely overwhelming. The crowd wasn't even cheering. The silence was deafening."

He reached up to wipe his eyes, catching a few stray tears, and laughed. It sounded bitter and terribly heartbroken. "And now, you know our story."

"That's horrible," were the first words out of Jason's mouth. He seemed almost in shock that a team would do such a thing. "Is that why Leo wants revenge? Because he saw an opening and failed to see that it was a trap?"

"And, Percy," Nico murmured. "He was given the responsibility to make the shot and he failed. It must destroyed him."

Octvian nodded glumly. He couldn't even bring himself to give them a smile. Something, anything to help alleviate their swirling thoughts. "They truly believed that they failed. I know they're always talking about how they want revenge for Luke, but it goes even farther than that. Percy believes that he failed the team, Luke included. Leo believes that, too, but to a lesser extent. More than anything, he thought he failed Percy, his best friend. He's supposed to be the playmaker, but his play failed."

"What's their relationship with Luke? They all seem so close." Octavian could hear the jealousy in their voices and bit his lip to avoid laughing out loud.

"Luke brought them into the world of basketball. It was from him that they learned to love the game. Before all this, Luke was in love with basketball. There was nothing he loved more." His tone was soft and wistful, reminiscing on past times. "Luke made them into who they are now. Revenge is just a step, at least in their minds, to repay for what he has done for them."

"And, what about you?"

The older blonde blinked in surprise. No one asked about him. It was always about Percy or Leo or Luke. He wasn't as important as them. He probably doesn't even register on the grand scheme of things. "Me? Well, Luke is, was, my boyfriend. I... felt like I failed him, too. I saw the blow, the one that almost busted his knee. I saw it coming, but I was too late to tell him. I never told anyone this, not even Percy and Leo, because they would worry. I blamed myself for his injury. I still do. Everyone on the team are still haunted by that game. It's not something that's easier to forget."

"But, why tell us, then?"

"You're the ones who will help Percy and Leo get through this," he answered with a soft smile. "I know you are. I haven't seen them so happy, since before that game. Annabeth is their best friend, but there is only so much she could do."

Nici frowned. "But, who will help you? Who will help the team?"

"You're really sweet," Octavian said, chuckling when the Italian blushed. "I can see why Percy likes you. Percy and Leo are all that I have now and they're doing a great job. Frank has his friends. He just recently met this girl, Hazel, and they're getting along fine. Ethan has his boyfriend, Alabaster, while Grover has Juniper, his girlfriend. The Stolls have each other. Everyone on the team has someone to support them, even if it's revenge they want."

Jason looked like he wanted to say something, but Nico elbowed him, effectively shushing him. He knew his best friend too well. The blonde was going to stick a fit in his mouth and mention something about Luke not helping him, which would only upset Octavian. The boy had already gone through so much. He deserved a little rest.

"Thank you for telling us," he said instead. "I know it's really hard to talk about it."

"But, it feels better to get it out," the older admitted. "And, for my request?"

"We'll do it."

Octavian beamed, his smile as bright as the sunlight streaming through the gym windows. He was happy that Percy and Leo had someone to lean on. He definitely doesn't want anyone to have to experience what he did. He, more than anyone else, knows what it's like to have no one.

-Let's not make promises, you never know when tomorrow comes

But I really mean it when I say

I like you-

So, that's all for this chapter. Are the lyrics really fitting in with the chapters? I'm not even sure myself, lol.

I'll try and update with Chapter 8 soon. ^-^

Also, I want to take the time and thank everyone who has favorited, reviewed, and followed this story, as well as me. I really appreciate it. If you ever want to talk, I'm always here.

Until next time (my duckies), this is FullReverse~