"Thalia," Reyna complained as her girlfriend continued to attack her neck with kisses. It was impossible to grab anything as both of Thalia's hands wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her waist. Thalia was pressed against her.
It wasn't that Reyna didn't enjoy kissing her girlfriend. It was one of her favorite things to do. Just not in public. While she wouldn't exactly consider this out in public, she liked to keep these intimate moments to when they were alone. She really didn't want Thalia practically grinding against her when Nico was in the kitchen.
"I need to get the food," Reyna voiced as she heard the doorbell ring. Thalia grinned against her neck and kissed her jaw. Thalia's hands were roaming up and down Reyna's body.
"I'll get it," Nico offered. He hurried out of the kitchen. Reyna tried to pull away from Thalia, but she was pinned against the counter. Thalia continued to attack her with kisses.
"Thalia, seriously. Stop," Reyna argued again as she tried to squirm away. Thalia stopped kissing her and let go. Reyna turned and studied that cocky grin on her girlfriend's face.
"Don't like being pinned?" Thalia teased. Reyna looked away and didn't answer. Thalia studied her. "What's wrong?"
Reyna kept her mouth shut. How could she explain to Thalia that she just didn't like this kind of interaction in public? She didn't mind kissing Thalia, holding hands, or even cuddling. But, this was too much.
"Reyna," Thalia said. The irritation was clear in her tone. Reyna looked at Thalia, but she had to figure out the way to word this right. The last thing she wanted to do was piss off her girlfriend or make her think kissing in public wasn't okay. "Of course."
"Thalia," Reyna began, but Thalia turned and stormed away. "Thalia, wait!"
Thalia stalked out of the kitchen. Reyna sighed and hung her head. Anger started to fill her chest. She understood that Thalia wanted her to open up more, and Reyna was trying to do that. All she had been trying to do was find a way to say the sentence properly.
Reyna turned away and raised her fist. Instead of slamming it into the counter like she wanted to, she slowly lowered it and leaned against the counter instead. Nico walked into the kitchen and sat the pizzas down. Frank followed with the rest, and after he set it down, he walked out. Nico turned towards Reyna and spoke, "You done making out with her?"
"I was trying to get her to stop," Reyna muttered. She shook her head and rested her forehead on the counter. "She got all mad at me because I wasn't quick enough to find the right way to phrase it. She couldn't even wait for that."
"What matters is that you're trying," Nico began.
"Doe it really matter if Thalia can't see that?" Reyna muttered. She sighed and pressed her head against the counter. "I wanted to tell her that I don't like those kinds of interactions in public, but I wasn't sure how to tell her without offending her. I don't want Thalia to think we can't interact like that around our friends. But what she was doing was just..."
"Uncomfortable," Nico finished. Reyna slowly looked at him. "I understand how that is. I don't kiss my dates in public, let alone nearly have sex with them in the kitchen."
"Thanks," Reyna grumbled. She rubbed her forehead and stood straight. "Why couldn't Thalia give me the time to explain how I felt instead of just getting mad?"
"To be fair, you never did share your feelings when you two first dated. She probably just thinks this is more of the same," Nico pointed out. Reyna hung her head.
"I know," Reyna muttered. "But, she said that she would give me a chance. I agreed to open up, and she agreed to be patient. I'm fulfilling my end."
"Get drunk and have some pizza. Enjoy game night," Nico ordered lightly. "Besides, you're going to be dating two women soon. Such a bad influence."
Reyna couldn't stop her smile. She leaned in close to Nico, so no one would hear them. Reyna whispered, "I think that you're just jealous I can get two people to date me at once, and you can't even get one guy."
Nico punched her hard in the shoulder, and a blush came to his face. Reyna laughed and wrapped an arm around him, "I'm just kidding, Nico. You never did tell me how your date went."
"It went great," Nico whispered. He sighed. "Did I tell you that Hazel tried to set me up on a date with one of her friends? Female friends."
Reyna looked at him in surprise. Nico blushed and looked down. Reyna spoke, "I'm sorry, Nico. What did you say?"
"I ran out in a panic. Hazel hasn't asked me about it since, and I don't know what to tell her," Nico confessed. He sighed and rested his head against Reyna. She gently rubbed his back. "What do I tell her? What do I do?"
"If you're not comfortable telling her the truth, just tell her you aren't interested in dating anyone," Reyna suggested. Nico smiled and hugged Reyna tightly. She hugged him back. "Now, let's get drunk."
Nico pulled away and walked towards the fridge. He pulled out some of the beers, and Reyna almost jumped as Annabeth appeared next to her to help. Reyna spoke, "Oh, hey. I didn't see you walk into the kitchen."
"I was just going to grab a pizza," Annabeth began. She sighed. "I heard you say that Thalia made you uncomfortable."
Reyna tensed. Talking to Nico about her problems with Thalia was easy. They were best friends. Talking to Thalia's best friend about relationship problems was not so easy, nor did it seem smart. Annabeth continued, "Did you try telling her?"
"She didn't give me long enough to," Reyna muttered. She crossed her arms. "It's whatever. I'll talk to her later once she calms down."
Reyna walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. Her gaze focused on everyone in the room. Hazel and Frank were sitting next to each other on the couch. Will sat on the opposite end, and Nico walked right towards him. Reyna had no time to dwell on it as she heard a knock on the front door.
Reyna walked towards the door and opened it. She smiled as she saw Octavian, who was holding onto two large coolers. Octavian spoke, "I brought more beer."
"How are you doing today?" Reyna asked as she took one of the coolers. Octavian walked in, and Reyna closed the door behind him. Instead of having a Christmas dinner, they were all just hanging out at Lupa's place. Nico had brought over one of his consoles, so they could play Mario Party. There were a few other games that he brought, along with board games and card games.
"Don't know," Octavian admitted. There was a sour look on his face. Reyna gave him a sympathetic look as they walked into the living room. Octavian sat his cooler down and opened it. He grabbed a beer. "I spent it with my family, and all they did was blame each other for what happened."
"I'm sorry," Reyna began as she grabbed a beer. Most of the others had made their way into the kitchen to get pizza. "If you need anything Octavian, just let me know."
"Can I be honest with you?" Octavian asked. Reyna studied him and nodded. "I thought you didn't like me all that much."
"I don't," Reyna confirmed. Octavian's eyes widened, and Reyna laughed. "I'm kidding, Octavian. I do like you. As a friend of course. We just don't get to talk too much with you always upstairs and listening to that stupid opera music."
"It's not stupid," Octavian said in shock. Reyna smirked. "It's classical!"
"Doesn't keep it from being stupid," Reyna teased. She took a sip of her beer and watched everyone make their way back to the living room. Will and Nico were talking quietly. Frank and Hazel sat back on the couch and seemed to be happy. They had made up after Frank's blow up on Hazel.
Octavian walked towards the kitchen to get food. Annabeth and Percy sat on the ground near each other. Piper, Jason, and Thalia all joined them. Reyna felt a flash of irritation as Thalia was the last one to sit but planted herself in between Jason and Annabeth, leaving no room for Reyna.
Everyone from the gym was there. They had invited Mellie and her husband Gleeson, but the two had a young child at home that they couldn't find a sitter for. Reyna wasn't quite sure why they had invited Jason. Or Thalia.
"Where's Lupa at?" Annabeth asked. Reyna frowned. She hadn't seen Lupa since she arrived. Something about a phone call. "We should let her know the food is here."
"I will," Reyna offered. She turned and walked through the house. Reyna didn't find Lupa anywhere. Not in her bedroom or her private study. After doing a full rotation of the house, she walked towards the backyard and saw the light was on. She carefully stepped out.
Reyna found Lupa pacing around as she talked on her phone. Lupa didn't seem to notice Reyna and seemed to be mid-rant, "I have been hiding this for years! It is time that you told her! Do you understand how she will react when she finds out?"
Reyna stared at Lupa and heard the sound of paws hitting the ground. A heavy weight slammed into her before she could brace herself and Reyna was dragged to the ground. She felt four separate dogs almost the size of wolves licking her all over. A laugh left her as she pulled one of the dogs down and into a cuddle.
"Off," Lupa ordered. Reyna felt the dogs step away enough to allow her to sit up. Lupa appeared over Reyna and held out a hand. "Is something wrong?"
"I was just looking for you," Reyna answered as she grabbed Lupa's hand and was pulled to her feet. "You okay? You seem upset."
Lupa studied Reyna for a long moment. She sighed and looked away. Reyna frowned, "Lupa?"
"It's just an argument that my best friend and I have been having for a few years. I want her to do something that is hard. I know it's hard for her, and I know it's going to change a lot of things, but the more that she waits, the more it is going to hurt when the truth comes out," Lupa explained. She slowly looked back at Reyna. "I am so proud of how you have matured from the starving teenager that I met."
Reyna stared at Lupa, taken aback by the words. Lupa walked inside and spoke, "Follow me."
"Thank you," Reyna began, still shocked by the compliment. Lupa smiled at her and gently grabbed her shoulder. Instead of walking towards the living room, they walked up the stairs and towards Lupa's room.
"You love my dogs, don't you?" Lupa asked.
"Of course," Reyna answered. "They're the cutest things."
Lupa smiled, and she stepped into her room. Reyna followed behind, and her gaze swept around. She had never been inside Lupa's room before. There was a large bed against one wall. A nightstand was on one side of the bed and a dresser was on the other. There was a door to the attached bathroom.
On the dresser, there were three different pictures. One had Lupa and Reyna. It was after Reyna's first professional fight, and Lupa had an arm wrapped around her, looking the proudest Reyna had ever seen. The second picture was of Lupa and two men. Both men looked exactly alike: strong brown eyes and cropped black hair. The last picture had a younger Lupa, almost young enough to be a teenager, and a woman the same age with black hair and black eyes. She almost looked like Hylla.
Reyna reached out to grab the photo, but Lupa spoke, "Reyna."
"Yeah," Reyna said, snapping out of her trance. She turned towards Lupa, shoving the picture out of her mind. A frown came to her face as she watched Lupa hold up a dog crate along with a duffel bag.
"Merry Christmas," Lupa said. She placed the dog crate and the duffel bag on the bed. Then, she walked towards the bathroom. Reyna stood there confused. Until Lupa walked out of the bathroom holding on to two puppies.
Both puppies had black fur. One looked at her with gold eyes and the other with silver. Lupa walked towards Reyna and gently handed her the puppies. Reyna cradled them in her arms and stared down at them, too shocked to speak.
"I call this one Aurum," Lupa said quietly as she placed a hand to the head of the one with gold eyes. Her gaze moved to the one with silver eyes. "And this one is Argentum. They are fully trained."
"You're giving them to me?" Reyna slowly asked. She had always wanted to get a dog, but she was always at the gym and was worried that she wouldn't be able to care for one properly.
"I am. I already talked with Nico. He suggested the names," Lupa answered. Reyna felt her eyes water, and she studied the two dogs. Both looked up at her and licked her face. She held the dogs close. "Nico agreed to watch them while you went out of town with Annabeth."
Reyna looked at Lupa. Then, she shifted the two dogs to one arm and hugged Lupa with her free one. Lupa hugged her gently. Reyna rapidly tried to blink tears out of her eyes as she spoke, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Lupa said quietly. She gently rubbed Reyna's back. Reyna pulled away and sat down with the two dogs... her two dogs. "They also have dog beds by my bed that you will bring home. We'll keep them in my room until you leave."
"Is it okay if I stay here for a little while?" Reyna asked. Lupa smiled.
"Of course," Lupa answered. Reyna held the two dogs close as they peppered her with kisses. "I'll tell the others you'll be down later."
"Thank you again, Lupa. This really means a lot," Reyna said.
"You deserve it," Lupa replied. She patted Reyna's shoulder and walked out of the room. Reyna just held her two dogs close as they cuddled with her. A smile came to her face, and a quick look in the duffel bag showed a few different toys.
Reyna grabbed a chew rope and held it out. Aurum lunged onto it and started to pull. Reyna pulled back as she continued to pet Argentum. A smile came to her face, and she heard footsteps. Thalia spoke, "Can I come in?"
"Yeah," Reyna said after a moment. She lost her smile. Thalia walked towards her and sat down. Aurum let go of the chew rope and sniffled Thalia. Reyna watched her girlfriend gently pet Aurum. Argentum squirmed out of her arms to examine Thalia as well.
"Annabeth told me that I was making you uncomfortable," Thalia started. Reyna looked away. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to embarrass you."
"Why did you get mad instantly instead of letting me explain?" Reyna questioned. She looked down as Aurum became bored of Thalia and went back for the toy.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" Thalia countered.
"I tried," Reyna muttered. She glared at the ground. "You didn't give me a chance, though. It's not that I don't like touching you or kissing you in front of others. I don't want you to think that. It's just the fact that you were doing all of that. I was worried that if I told you what you were doing made me uncomfortable, you would jump to the conclusion that I didn't want you to touch me in public."
"I'm sorry. Reyna. You should never feel like that," Thalia said softly. She wrapped an arm around Reyna and kissed her cheek. "I am sorry that I made you so uncomfortable."
Reyna nodded, not sure what to say. She finally just leaned on Thalia. Her girlfriend spoke, "After we play with these cuties, you want to get drunk and gorge on pizza?"
"I couldn't think of anything better," Reyna answered. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Thalia kissed her temple before putting her full attention on the dogs. Reyna focused on her dogs as well, but she couldn't get over her disgruntled feelings at Thalia. It had to be nothing, though. Especially since Reyna went through so much just to get back with Thalia. Things would work out between them. She just had to believe this bump in the road would smooth out soon.