Secrets and Lies

Pairing: Reyna + Annabeth, Percy and Jason.

Set two years after It's Called College

Six weeks. Damn that woman had been right. Six weeks. Reyna had known for three of them. That meant that for three weeks, she'd kept it a secret. And she still did. Contemplating the dress-fitting bitch's murder, Reyna had still kept the whole… thing a secret.

She wouldn't even think of the P word.

Or the B word.

She didn't need those words right now. She was supposed to be a maid of honor. The next few months were all about Annabeth. How was she supposed to tell her best friend to change the wedding date so she wasn't waddling down the aisle?

Oh Gods.

She'd be waddling!

She cringed at the very thought and resisted the urge to shudder. Instead, she just took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was the strongest, most put-together person she knew. She wasn't about to fall apart because of some… physical inconvenience. That's all she could think of it right now.

That night they had an office party at the News Station, celebrating their new role in New York, with the building Annabeth had been hired to design. Reyna instantly regretted ever agreeing to show up. She pulled herself into a dress with a black torso and lace t-shirt sleeves, with a white and black layered skirt and heels. She'd even straightened her hair, resulting in three burns to her fingers. That alone, was too much effort for one night.

The large chasm of a room was full of echoes and marble, countless buffets lining the walls as Reyna tried to remember what… expecting women were allowed to eat.

Jason was happy to flitter amongst the crowd, meeting all of Reyna's colleagues and being ever so charming. Annabeth was over the moon to answer questions about her building, dragging Percy with her and talking about the upcoming wedding.

Reyna, on the other hand, excused herself to stand in the corner and try not to let the scent overwhelm her. What was that smell?

Eventually, Percy broke away from Annabeth and came to stand with her, rolling his eyes at all the socialites. "I would have thought you enjoyed this party," Percy told her. "Or at least, controlled it."

"I'm not a control freak," Reyna grumbled, snappily. "Sorry, it's just… what's that smell? That horrible smell?"

"Food?" Percy suggested. "I thought it smelled nice."

"It smells delicious!" Chimed a new voice. One of Reyna's coworkers, a journalist who worked on the weekends. Amelia or something. "Come on Reyna, you've got to love coronation chicken scones!" She picked up something that looked like badly sliced onions wedged between two halves of a scone and Reyna wondered where the chicken was. "Come on, try some."

Then Amelia proceeded to do that thing where you shove food in someone's face to get them to take a bite. As much as Reyna tried to back away, letting the cringe show, Amelia kept grinning. After an awkward moment, Reyna nibbled at the edge of the weird onion thing.

Oh no.

"Delicious," she lied. "Got to go!" She practically ran away from the party to the nearby ladies room and Percy followed her.

"Rey, are you okay? You look green!" He kept saying, but she just burst into the bathroom. Percy checked there was no one else in there before following her inside.

"Oh good, you're here," Reyna said. "Stand watch." She ducked into one of the cubicles and Percy blinked.

"You're going to go with me right here?" He asked. "I'm not sure if our friendship can survive that."

"Our friendship is flexible," she said. "Now be a gentleman and run the tap."

He turned on all the taps and realized that Reyna was puking. "Wait, are you okay? Do you have food poisoning or something? Should I get Jason in here? He's the doctor."

"No, do not get Jason!" She ordered.

"Well if you have food poisoning again, Jason should know," Percy insisted.

After a minute or too, Reyna walked out of the cubicle, flushing the toilet after her, not a hair out of place. Not like she'd just been on her knees vomiting. She looked completely fine and well put together. She just washed her hands and smiled faintly at Percy. "I'm fine," she insisted.

"No you're not," he corrected. "Jason had to kno-"

"Jason doesn't have to know anything," she said. "And if you were my friend, you wouldn't tell him."

Percy paused, his face falling as she guilt tripped him. She wore a proud smirk and he finally said, "Rey, I am your friend. And I'm Jason's friend. So I'm sorry, but I'd want him to tell me if it was Annabeth."

"Well that's different; you and Annabeth are engaged," she said. "From now on, you basically are the same person. I'm my own person, an adult one at that, and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"If you have food poisoning-"

"I don't have food poisoning!" She exclaimed. "I'm pregnant!"

There was a very long silence after that outburst. Percy just blinked. Reyna regretted ever telling him and wished she could take the words back. But she couldn't. Now he knew. Percy knew before Jason did. She cursed herself silently.

"I've been trying to ignore it. Pretend it isn't real. But the morning sickness has been making that a little difficult." She fiddled with her own fingers for a minute, wondering if Percy was still going to tell Jason. "Now I've said it, and it's real. I was hoping denial would last longer as a coping mechanism…"

"You know," Percy mused. "If you don't want it… you have options."

"And I've considered them all," she told him. "But this baby was conceived out of love, and I'm going to keep it. I'm just… absolutely terrified."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Telling Percy was like ripping off a bandaid. It was difficult to do and sent shockwaves through her body. But it needed to be done. In all honesty, Percy probably shouldn't have been the first one to know. That was supposed to be Jason. So after the part, Reyna took a deep breath and – with the support and encouragement of Percy – she said it again.

"I'm pregnant."

This time it was Annabeth's face that fell in shock. They sat across from each other on her bed, cross-legged and holding hands. Annabeth gasped and her hand tightened on Reyna's. "Oh my Gods," she breathed, a grin beginning to form on her face. "Rey that's amazing!"

She just shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, part of me is happy. I guess I was just supposed to be married first. Or… you know, trying. This was an accident. A beautiful, miraculous accident. And I'm happy about it. But I wasn't expecting it, you know?"

"It's good news," Annabeth insisted. "Have you told Jason?"

"Told Jason what?" Came his voice, by the door. Reyna didn't look up at him but Annabeth leaned in to hug her and kiss her cheek before getting up and leaving to give them some privacy.

Jason sat down in Annabeth's place and Reyna told him everything. She poured all her fears out in front of him, and every positive and negative thought she had on the subject. She shared everything and he listened. Then he shared his thoughts on the subject. What he was afraid of and what he was happy about.

They fell asleep talking, wrapped up in each other's arms with their third.

AN: I'm like halfway through next chapter already. Spoiler alert, it has five guest stars and I try to figure out what the hell a bromance really is.

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