Annabeth threw her bag across her shoulder as she turned away from her locker. She could hear the shower running from where Hazel was finishing up, and she wasn't sure if Frank was still in the men's locker room or not. As for Reyna, she had been sitting by herself for the last hour or so, just staring down at Lupa's desk.
After checking on Romy, Lupa came back to the gym with him. She told the rest of them that they could go home while her and Octavian handled firing Mellie. Annabeth didn't like it. She hated the thought of firing anyone who had a child at home, but at the same time, Mellie told her husband so much information about them. It was an unforgivable breach of trust.
Annabeth turned and crossed the gym. She walked up the stairs and towards Lupa's office. Upon stepping inside, she saw that Reyna was sitting in a chair near the desk. Her eyes were unfocused, but she was looking in the direction of the contract. Annabeth followed her gaze and focused on the parchment.
Leaving Lupa's gym was so stupid. Lupa was one of the greatest fighters in the world. She could train them to take on anyone and win. Her kindness was something not seen in many coaches. Reyna had been maybe hours from throwing all of that away for Gleeson Hedge and an unknown gym.
And Annabeth understood..
There had been a boiling tension between the two of them. Annabeth knew it was there. Reyna did as well. It came out a few times like in that interview with Rhea. For the most part, it was just in the background, but it was clearly boiling in Reyna's heart if the contract being signed by her was anything to go by.
"Reyna," Annabeth said softly. Reyna slowly lifted her head and looked up at Annabeth. "Do you want to get lunch? I can give you a ride home after if you want."
Reyna studied her for a few moments. There was an exhausted, vulnerable look in her eyes. They were red from crying, and she hung her head to stare at the ground. A shrug finally left her. Annabeth leaned on the desk.
"I'm not trying to drive you out, Reyna. I don't want you to leave this gym," Annabeth began. Reyna slowly looked back up at her. "This gym would be so different without you."
"You don't get it," Reyna muttered.
"I do," Annabeth argued. "You're upset because of how much Lupa has been focusing on me and not you. And, it can't be easy to look at Lupa every day knowing that she knew your mother. I know it's been grinding away at you, chipping and chipping away at your patience no matter how much you try to push it aside."
Reyna didn't answer, which was the confirmation that Annabeth needed. Annabeth sighed and grabbed a free chair. She dragged it towards Reyna and sat by her, "Reyna, you cannot keep this inside anymore. It's tearing you apart. I know that you feel like Lupa betrayed you."
"I don't feel like it. That's exactly what happened," Reyna corrected with a whisper. She rubbed her eyes.
"You're right. Lupa betrayed your trust. She betrayed you. I know that hurts, but you're taking this so personally," Annabeth continued. "Why?"
"Why do you care?" Reyna grumbled as she slowly met Annabeth's eyes.
"Because I hate to see my friend in this funk," Annabeth answered. Reyna studied her and remained silent. "Reyna, you are letting this destroy you, and I know you said you don't want to take this out on your friends, but you're going to keep breaking unless you tell someone."
"But it has to be you, right? Because you have to know everything that goes on in this gym," Reyna muttered sourly.
"No. It has to be me because I will call out bullshit," Annabeth stated firmly. "Frank and Hazel are too nice to push you for the truth. I'm not. If you let all of this boil inside, it is going to destroy you mentally and cause you to lose your fights. It's going to eat you alive, Reyna. I hate seeing you like this."
"What the hell do I do then?" Reyna suddenly asked. It sounded like she wanted to be angry, to raise her voice, but they both knew she was mentally and emotionally drained. Reyna was numb, which made it the perfect time to push her forward and just try to get rid of this block that she had.
"Let's go out and get drunk. Then, maybe you can open up," Annabeth suggested.
"Screw it," Reyna decided as she stood. "I'll text Nico and let him know. Who's paying?"
"My idea. I'll pay. As long as you open up," Annabeth promised. Reyna nodded and grabbed her phone. Annabeth watched her friend. Hopefully, the alcohol would give Reyna the push she needed to open up, and hopefully, it would give Annabeth the courage to keep pushing till they made a breakthrough.
Annabeth studied the third beer in her hands. The restaurant had a beer tasting menu of sorts with ten different flavors. So far, she really enjoyed the first two flavors. Both were fruity. This one was a sort of cinnamon and apple, so she hoped it tasted good.
Annabeth's gaze moved to Reyna. She was on her fourth flavor, and she held a small frown. Reyna took another sip and passed it to Annabeth. After putting hers down, Annabeth took a sip. She recoiled and looked at the flavor: bacon.
"Not good," Annabeth decided. She tried a sip of hers and then passed it to Reyna. "This isn't too bad."
Reyna took a sip as well and nodded. Her gaze moved down to the plate of nachos they were sharing for an appetizer. Reyna spoke, "How are things with your father?"
"What do you mean?" Annabeth questioned as her body tensed on her.
"Your father. How are things with him? I know you were having issues with him accepting you," Reyna clarified. Annabeth looked away. "If I'm going to open up; shouldn't you?"
"Yeah," Annabeth sighed. "I've been avoiding him ever since he asked me if my sexuality was a phase. Because, I don't think it is one, but what if it is? I mean, I find certain women attractive. I've slept with a female once before but not since. I just... what if it was a phase, and I won't realize it until I date again?"
Reyna studied the beer and seemed to be thinking. She grabbed a nacho and chewed on it. When she was finished, she spoke, "I don't think that makes it a phase. It just means that you don't find women attractive anymore. When your father calls it a phase, it almost feels like he's trying to undermine you. Kids go through phases. You just have changing attractions."
"How is it so easy to be so comfortable in your sexuality?" Annabeth asked. Reyna shrugged.
"Maybe, it would be different if my parents were in my life, but I don't really care if anyone judges me. Hylla had a girlfriend in high school, so I know she wouldn't hate the idea of me liking females. With Nico's sexuality, he wouldn't judge me. No one in high school really cared, probably because they saw me dating Jason."
"It's easy for me to say screw my family. My mother's a piece of shit, and my father was just broken inside and took it out on Hylla and I," Reyna explained. Her eyes drifted away. Then, she put her beer down and sighed. "For the longest time, it was just Hylla and I."
Reyna fell silent, but Annabeth didn't fill that void. Instead, she waited patiently. Reyna slowly continued, "Hylla did her best to protect me from our father. Whether he was screaming his head off at us or ghosts, she would always distract me from the noises. And when he got violent, she did the best she could."
"I still remember the nights when we would scale half of our villa and climb to the roof just to get away. I won a bet against Nico with those skills," Reyna smiled at the memory. "It was the two of us against the world. Then, our father died, and it just fell apart."
"Hylla didn't want the foster system to pull us apart, so we sold our villa and moved from Puerto Rico. We settled here using the money we had, and she got a job. Along with going to school. It didn't take long for the pressure to get to her. She tried her best, but all of the pressure just kept piling up."
"I was a moody teenager. I never really processed all of the shit that our father did to us. I don't think she did either. We fought. A lot. Just over all kinds of stupid things. The fighting turned into arguing, then turned into Hylla screaming at me. Just like our father did. Then, she told me to get the hell out."
"It hurts so much to be told by someone that you love to get out. Hylla and I had always been together against the world. Then, it was just me. It hurt so fucking much for the one person I loved and trusted to do that to me. I spent a lot of nights crying myself to sleep over it."
"Part of me thought that Hylla didn't actually want me. She only did everything that she did because she was obligated to. I think... I think one of the reasons I didn't come back was because I was worried Hylla would turn into our father. It's so stupid looking back on it, but at the time, I was just so hurt by Hylla saying that."
"I never wanted that to happen again. I never wanted to be that close to someone and have them tell me to get the hell out of their lives, to betray me like that," Reyna muttered sourly, a scowl twisting her half drunken face. "Until Lupa came along. Lupa got close, and I really thought I could open up to more people. I tried opening up to Thalia, and we both know where that got me. And Lupa..."
Reyna drained the rest of her beer and fell silent. Fresh tears rested in her eyes, but she didn't cry. Reyna slowly spoke, "I hate that you joined the team, Annabeth. I hate that you're a young Lupa. No wonder she loves to mentor you."
"I'm not a young Lupa," Annabeth began.
"You're smart, study your opponents, and have so much damn skill that training makes you near impossible to stop. Exactly how Lupa was when she was younger," Reyna muttered. "Not some damn hot tempered kid off of the streets. It's no wonder she loves training you."
"Reyna, she loves training with you too. She hates that you two don't spar anymore. That's what she told me," Annabeth began.
"Because she tells you everything," Reyna muttered. "Like her miscarriage."
"Didn't she tell you?" Annabeth asked. Reyna shook her head. "How do you know that then?"
"I guess the same way Mellie did. Lupa had printed off emails about it for something, and she ended up dropping this huge pile one day. I helped her sort through it with Mellie's help, and I just happened to see it. I ended up asking her about it, but she just told me she didn't want to talk about it. But she just goes ahead and tells you," Reyna grumbled.
"Reyna, we don't have to be enemies," Annabeth responded with a sigh. "I'm not trying to take your spot in the gym. Yes, I do like having the others ask me questions and look up to me. That's not because I need to feel superior. It's because I love to teach.
"If I had my way, the two of us would spar all the time. We would exploit each other's weaknesses until there was none left to be found. Iron sharpens iron, and I want to sharpen my skills against you," Annabeth insisted. "Sure, it might be a bad idea because the two of us will face off for the title, but if I lost to you, I would know I lost to the best fighter in the world.
"I know you hate having me at the gym-"
"Annabeth, I don't," Reyna interrupted. "I know I said that, but I really don't. Not anymore. I did hate it at first. I'm over that now, but I'm just frustrated and exhausted by everything that has been happening to me. And, I can't help but take it out on those around me."
"Then stop doing that," Annabeth almost demanded. She fell silent as they were given their entrees. "Look, I know it's hard, okay? I know that you have issues with your emotions and that you hate to open up. At some point, you just have to get over your fear and do it."
"I know," Reyna said softly. She sighed and looked down. "I'm trying, Annabeth. I tried to call a therapist, but they won't understand. I don't want someone who is going to empathize with me. I want someone who will understand."
"No one is going to go through exactly the same thing you did," Annabeth said. "But, therapists will understand. They will listen to you, and hell, they might also have been through some facet that you have. It doesn't make you weak or anything like that."
"Can we just stop talking about this?" Reyna muttered, but Annabeth shook her head. She wanted to push more, but she could see how tense Reyna was. There was no doubt she would just leave if Annabeth pushed further.
"Fine," Annabeth relented. "Please just know that I want to be friends with you, Reyna. I want to learn as a teammate from one of the best fighters in the league. I don't want us to keep butting heads unless it's in the cage."
"I feel the same," Reyna said softly. She sighed and stared at her food. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I just... I don't even know what the hell I need."
"A friend," Annabeth supplied. Reyna looked at her and slowly nodded. "Now, let's eat. And maybe, you can help me figure out how to tell my father to accept me or leave me alone."
"I can try," Reyna promised. "But, we're probably going to need more alcohol for that."