New Year's Eve

Just got in from China. Maybe we could go out tonight. Hit San Fran. Make some memories that we'll be glad we forgot the next morning. I miss you, Baby Sister. And we both need some fun, especially you. Tell me the truth. Do you do anything other than work?

-Hylla

Reyna looked up to her cell phone, where Octavian was still droning on about something of little importance, and Jason caught her eye.

Though no one else had, he had noticed when she brought out her cell phone and read something. Even though he could have killed Octavian for calling a meeting of the senate on New Year's Eve, he paid attention to him so that Reyna didn't have to.

Jason was still thinking back to his friends who all went on their annual camping trip.

Yes, this was a real camping trip. No partying. No drinking.

They had started the tradition when they were nine.

The five boys (Steven, Brett, Sam, Dex, and Jason) climbed into Brett's dad's car, and they set out for the woods. Brett's parents got divorced when he was two, and, because of that, he could honestly get just about anything he wanted, even a camping trip with a bunch of kids on New Year's Eve.

They did it every year now. Only, two years ago, they ditched Brett's dad, and Dex, who was the oldest of the group at eighteen now, would drive them.

He had been planning on going. His suitcase was still packed and standing by the door. Jason was about to climb into Dex's Jeep when Octavian called the senate with business that would keep him from the camping trip. About to kill the gangly blonde, he sent his friends on and went to the senate.

Jason smiled that she could keep talking to someone on her phone, and her thankful smile spread as she looked down to her cell phone to type an email back to her older sister.

You know me, and you know the answer to that. No, I don't do anything other than work. Which is why I can't ditch tonight. Believe me, I really want to. But Octavian just called the senate together. Knowing me, I'll be watching TV with chocolate and soda. Go have fun though.. Te quiero, hermana mayor.

-Reyna

She pressed the button, and she was about to slide the cell phone under her thigh when it vibrated with another email. Glancing to see if anyone else was paying attention, which they weren't, she read through the message.

Vive la vida mientras puedas.

Do you remember that, Reyna? Live life while you can. You are not living life! Have fun tonight. Get drunk. Have a little too much fun. What about that Adonis boy I met? Jackson? Jason? Have some fun with him. Just do something.

Love you, too.

-Hylla

"I'm sorry, Octavian. But you're making a big deal out of nothing," Jason smiled his winning smile, leaning back in his throne.

Octavian opened his mouth to go off, but Reyna cut him off.

"I agree with Jason."

Octavian was flustered, his cheeks turning red with anger, and the senate quickly dismissed.

As always, Jason and Reyna stayed last, and Jason had smirk as he looked at her.

"Are you flirting with someone, My Dear?"

Reyna rolled her eyes and held up her smart phone to show the contact of Hylla in big letters.

"My older sister."

"Ooh," Jason snatched the cell phone out of her hands, "That Adonis boy? Jackson? Jason? She thinks I'm an Adonis."

"Everyone thinks you're an Adonis," Reyna took her phone back as she stood, sliding out of the purple robes to her jeans and tee shirt underneath.

"So, it looks like we're in the same boat. TV and lazy clothes," Jason pulled off the purple sheets and pulled on a football team tee shirt.

Reyna pursed her lips and hesitated, thinking back to her past New Year's Eves.

No, her past years.

Vive la vida mientras puedas.

Live life while you can.

Reyna wasn't living a real life.

She was living a work life, and she knew she couldn't kick it. But, maybe just for tonight, she could.

"I know that face," Jason pointed to his best friend, "That is your I-Have-a-Plan face. I like that face. What are you thinking?"

Reyna hesitated, still working it out in her mind.

"I don't know… But you'd like it. And Hylla would, too."

"So what? Can you give me an idea or…?"

Reyna waved him off, walking towards the bath house.

"Reyna," Jason hurried to keep up with her, "You're doing it again. When you don't answer me and just keep walking. Can you try thinking aloud every now and then?"

"I'm going to take bath," Reyna told him absently, and Jason would have kept following her if she hadn't entered the girl's changing room, where a girl coming out glared at him when he started walking towards the door.

"No, no, it's not like that. My friend just walked in, and I needed to talk to her," Jason tried, but the girl just shook her head at him and kept walking.

Thank you, Reyna, Jason mentally cursed at her.

He trudged home, and he got out his cell phone after a text from Dex came in about how much fun they were having.

Jason changed from cursing Reyna to cursing Octavian for making him miss the camping trip with the boys.

Reyna, on the other hand, kept only one thing in her mind.

I'll show Hylla, Reyna told herself, I can too live. I am going to have fun tonight if it breaks every bone in my body.

Reyna flipped through her clothes, trying to find the shortest dress she had. She finally settled for a pair of skin tight black jeans, a sequin tank top, and her platform heels. She curled her hair to ringlets, and she tried to remember everything Gwen did when she did her make-up last week.

As the clock struck ten, Reyna stared at herself in the mirror, and she hesitated.

She had a sudden urge to take a shower to get all of her make-up off, slide into her lazy sweatpants, and watch the ball drop on TV with a bowl of green apple Twizzlers.

"You are going to do this," Reyna locked eyes with her reflection, "You are not going to be lame this year."

The thought of having to tell Hylla that she had spent what was left of the year as she had spent the rest of the year, lying on her couch with Netflix and candy, brought back her fearlessness, and she held her head up high as she left her house.

Reyna thanked the gods that no one stopped and stared tonight. Most of them were too drunk, leaning onto friends. Or posting embarrassing pictures of friends on facebook. Or they were too pumped about their night ahead.

When she came to the club though, everyone noticed her this time.

She could feel their eyes, and she could hear their whispers. They wanted to know what she was doing here. Everyone did something different in their reaction, but Suzie didn't really react to it. Instead, she cursed under her breath.

I've got to get to him before he sees, Suzie told herself, and she weaved through the party to get to Jason, who was laughing with his friend, Sam.

She flipped her golden blonde hair and tapped on his shoulder.

He turned around, and even Jason had to marvel at her beauty.

She was petite with the illusion of long legs, but she wore giant high heels to distract from it. Her training had earned her the 4 on the tag of her mini dress, and she had a face that made you wonder if she had gone under the scalpel. Her lips were thick and perfectly sculpted, and her nose was roman without being too pronounced. Her cheekbones were high, and her eyes were clover-green.

When Suzie was only nine, she first noticed Jason.

Instantly, she knew they would be together.

Maybe they wouldn't get married and have the two children she dreamed of (a beautiful daughter, Celia, and a handsome son Jupiter). But they would date at some point. She just knew it.

She forgot about it for a while.

Dated other boys. Hung out with other people.

Now she was ready though.

But, now, it wasn't happening!

That made her want it even more, and she was going to get him.

"Hey, there you are. I haven't seen you in forever," she playfully pushed his shoulder, and he let out a small smile.

"Hey, Suzanne."

"Call me, Suzie. We've known each other forever," she kept smiling.

"Sorry. I keep forgetting," he rubbed his neck.

"You can make it up to me by dancing," she nudged Jason, and he smiled.

As she led him to the dance floor and away from Reyna, Gwen saw her best friend.

Gwen almost dropped her drink when she saw Reyna, and she pushed her way past a group of Apollo boys picking out their girl for tonight. Reyna smiled with relief when she saw Gwen, and she let herself relax a little more.

Gwen wrapped her arms around her best friend, and she laughed.

"What are you doing here?" Gwen gave her a once-over, "And where did you get those heels? Can I borrow them on Friday? I have a date."

"They're yours. You left them at my place."

"I will be taking those back, Missy. But I am taking you to get some hot clothes, too. No backing out, Reyna," Gwen smiled, and Reyna tried not to laugh.

"I'm going to need a drink."

Gwen hooked her arm onto Reyna's, and she expertly weaved through the crowd to get to the bar where she flashed a smile at the bartender for a drink. The bartender was supposed to be making only smoothies and Shirley Temples for the young party tonight, but he did it anyway.

"Hello, Gwen."

"Two please," Gwen flipped her hair, and he smirked.

"Appletini?"

"You got it," he went to making the drink.

On the other side of the party, the music was pounding. The floor was shaking. And everyone was dancing.

Though Jason didn't feel the same party high, he still knew how to be at a party, and he still knew how to dance. Suzie took notice of this, and it gave her some sort of hope that she would one day get that Party-Boy Jason she had been lusting after for years.

As the two came out of the packed dance floor, Suzie forgot about Reyna for a minute, and she leaned closer to Jason.

"Can you get me a drink?"

Jason nodded and started towards the bar.

He tapped his foot impatiently as he watched the binder focus on two certain girls.

He finally decided to push past everyone to get to the bartender.

"So what is this?"

"Just try it. Its good," Gwen nudged her as she got her Appletini, "You should try the chocolate ones that James here makes."

"Reyna?"

Reyna choked on her Appletini and almost broke her ankle spinning around to see him.

If she hadn't been in four inch heels, she might have hidden her face in her long hair and run out of the crowded club.

"Wow," Jason gave her a once-over still unable to believe it.

Reyna…

Reyna went out?

No, Reyna was hot when she went out.

Jason wasn't sure how to handle this.

He stared at her.

Suddenly, the thought of Suzie drifted away, and he could only stare at Reyna.

Was this even Reyna?

She was out. She was wearing heels. And make-up.

If her brown eyes hadn't widened and gotten scared to death, he would have thought it just happened to be a girl who looked like Reyna.

As his blue eyes drifted to the drink in her hand, she started to get angry.

"I thought you said you were going to hang out at home!" Reyna would have crossed her arms if she wasn't still holding her drink.

"Me?' Jason laughed, "Me! You're kidding, right?"

"You knew I was coming!"

"You never told me!"

"It was pretty obvious," Reyna tried, and they would have kept fighting if Gwen hadn't doubled over, spilling her drink on to her dancing flats.

"You two are five years old, you know that?" Gwen ruffled Jason's hair, "Drink this, and get another. Have fun."

Gwen handed him her drink, but she stopped before completely walking off to the dance floor.

"Not too much, okay?" she quickly told them, and Reyna burned bright red even though she had heard this from her older sister not long before.

Gwen, happy that they were now too embarrassed to do anything even if they did get completely drunk, walked off to the rest of the party, and she tried not to laugh at Suzie sitting on the bench waiting for whoever her suitor she was trying to get with this time.

"Ignore her. She's crazy," Reyna tried.

"But she was right about the drink. Want one?"

"Scotch. I'm already out tonight. These girly drinks aren't helping me," Reyna put down her Appletini, and Jason nudged her.

"My Reyna drank an Appletini."

Reyna rolled her eyes and made a playful jab.

"Scotch. Now, Newbie."

"And she's back."

Jason bought her a drink, and they went on with the party.

Jason showed her the ropes but didn't go so fast that she would return back to the safety of her couch with comfy sweat pants, TVs, and the comfortable couch.

He found that she caught on fast but didn't enjoy it as much as he had anticipated.

He had always teased her that, after her first party, she would go all crazy party girl like he had.

But he found that she was stronger than him.

He wondered why.

If anything, he should be the strongest.

As son of Jupiter, he already had that advantage. He lead quests and almost lost his life. He had managed to go on after being basically an orphan from the time he was two years old. And he had gone on wondering what ever happened to the older sister who loved him so much.

But what had happened to Reyna?

He suddenly realized that he didn't know.

"Come on, I have an idea."

"But its almost midnight," Reyna tried, pointing at the countdown.

"Do you really want to stick around?" Jason raised his eyebrows, and she looked around.

Reyna took off her shoes and nodded.

Jason waited until everyone was staring at Suzie who was so pissed that Jason had ditched her that she was with his best friend, Brett.

Jason hurried through the town, and Reyna followed after him.

"What's the hurry?" Reyna asked, the scotch coming back to haunt her as her head began to get woozy.

"You'll love this, okay?"

"You're freaking me out, Jason," Reyna tried to keep up without puking her guts on one of the porches of the Roman citizens.

Jason had to bite his tongue not to tease her that he was usually the one trailing while she was powering through, but he wasn't that stupid despite how Reyna sometimes made him feel.

He didn't mean to, he knew that.

But her greatest quality was also her fatal flaw.

She was Praetor Reyna. It wasn't just a job. It was her life.

Jason had always wanted to be like Reyna.

Everyone in the Roman Camp did, even if they lied about it.

They envied just how Roman she was. They cursed getting American-Soft, and they wanted to be as powerful and strong as Reyna was. They wanted to be able to think of the big picture instead of crying for the lives lost in the battle.

But then Jason got to know her, and he suddenly prayed to not share her fate.

He didn't want to have to stand there with a straight face and send people he knew to their death to keep everyone alive. He didn't want to have to lie and save the meltdowns until the door was safely locked behind him. And he didn't want to spend every thanksgiving sitting on the kitchen tile wearing old tee shirts and crying with photos of what he left behind to get here.

"Jason, where are we going? We're out of the city-" Reyna stopped when she came to the top of the hill, and her eyes widened.

Jason smiled proudly, and she did the weirdest thing Reyna had ever done, including sobbing and telling him the story of her life in a pair of Mickey Mouse socks.

She planted a big kiss on his cheek and smiled wide.

"I love you right now."

"And we don't have to tell your sister. Say we got so drunk that we don't remember a thing after eleven o'clock."

Reyna kept smiling as they continued up the hill.

Two identical roman houses sat beside each other, with beautiful arches and ample relaxing space. They were separated by a small garden with a tree that rumors said had been planted by two Praetors in love. The story was sweet and adorable, but Reyna barely remembered it.

Jason did though.

It was Ella's favorite bedtime story, and he kind of liked it, too, even though he would never tell anyone that.

Jason gave Reyna a boost to get up to the ledge where she kept the spare key since Gwen had accidentally picked up Reyna's purse and left her with Gwen's. She fumbled to get the key in the lock, and she cursed the Scotch.

When the door finally opened, she threw the shoes she borrowed from Gwen to the table where Gwen could get them later.

As she headed up the stairs for her comfortable pajamas and to get all the make-up off her face, Jason reclined onto the couch and surfed through the channels to see Ryan Seacrest talking about the celebration in New York City tonight.

New York City.

Jason was a West Coast boy.

It's something you have or you don't.

He had never lived anywhere but California, and he couldn't imagine being any other place. Maybe the state was broke, and maybe Hollywood got too much attention, especially that action star (Tristan McMann? McLean?). But there was nothing like California.

But he had always been interested in New York City.

He wasn't exactly sure why.

"I have candy."

Jason was brought out of the trance when Reyna sat down on the couch, putting out the bowl of Twizzlers and assorted stuff left over from Halloween.

"Have you ever thought of the East Coast?" Jason asked, the question still bugging him. Reyna, who was now sprawled on the couch beside him, eating candy and letting the Scotch effects wear off.

"The East Coast?"

"Yeah, New York. D.C. And the south," Jason flashed a smile, and looked back as some pop star took the stage on TV.

Reyna thanked the gods he didn't see her recoil and her eyes widen.

She couldn't take away that innocence.

He didn't know about the Civil War, not the truth at least.

He believed the whole "Abraham Lincoln had this war for slavery" thing that everyone heard and that the evil Greeks started this thing because they were still angry Rome had conquered them once again.

She couldn't tell him that it was a Helen/Paris situation.

That a son of Apollo (the Roman) Charleston millionaire stole the beautiful daughter of Aphrodite, Elaina. That the son of Zeus, a powerful man in the White House on his way to becoming President someday, was angered by the betrayal of his wife. And forced the hand for a war, even convincing the President to keep it going.

It'll never come up, Reyna reminded herself, and she forced herself to laugh along with Jason at the pop star singing her big one-hit-wonder.

"Champaign?"

"Whiskey. Top shelf," Reyna shrugged, and he stared, "I keep it for pain relief if I get hurt."

"Sure," he walked to the kitchen, grabbing the bottle and two glasses and hurrying back for midnight.

Four blinked on the countdown as Jason hurriedly poured the shot glasses and handed one to Reyna.

"Three," Jason smiled.

"Two."

"One."

The ball fell, and the people went insane.

You could hear New Rome celebrating almost as loudly as you could hear Times Square on the screen.

But, in this particular house, the new year ended with a clink of the class and the quick drink of the whiskey.

"So what was your year like?" Reyna asked, reclining back on the couch after pouring himself another glass.

Jason explained his year, stopping for a drink every now and then.

And, when his tale was finished, Reyna began hers.

At the end, they talked together about their time together. They laughed mostly, but that might have been all of the whiskey. By the time they had run out of their year to talk about, the bottle was gone, and so was their energy.

Reyna rested her head on his shoulder, and Jason tiredly asked her a question.

"Are you going to kick me in the knee again when I wake up?"

"Go home," Reyna told him, her voice full of sleep. But she didn't move off his shoulder, and he made no effort to go home.

"Just don't beat me up too badly in the morning, okay?"

As Reyna drifted into sleep, she said something, but it just came out muffled. But he took it as an okay, and he fell asleep on the couch.

A great start to a new year, Jason thought before completely falling asleep, I didn't even kiss anyone at midnight.

But he couldn't think of spending his New Year Eve any other way.

Even with the banging hangover that would be greeting him into the new year or the backache from sleeping on the couch, he didn't regret anything.

As he began to drift into complete sleep, he made a promise to himself.

Every new year, I'll remember this. Even if she's not with me. I'll remember this.

I finally updated.

I'm sorry it took so long, but I hope the long chapter makes up for it.