Right. Left. Right. Left. Uppercut.

Reyna repeated the mantra in her head before delivering a final blow to the punching bag in front of her. She let out an exhausted breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She grabbed a bottle of water and it took her a moment to drain it. Her breathing was labored from how long she had been hitting the punching bag.

Reyna finished the bottle of water and tossed it into the trash can. She heard footsteps and turned her head. As she caught a glimpse of blonde hair, she focused back on the punching bag. Anger boiled in her veins as she added kicks to the mix. Someone cleared their throat, but Reyna ignored it.

Her limbs ached from how intense her training had been that day. They were getting too close to their fights, and Reyna could not stop now. She would not stop. Reyna had to win. She had to get a title match with Annabeth. And if no one else believed in her, she would believe in herself.

"Reyna," Annabeth called out. Reyna delivered a final punch and then waited. "Can we talk?"

"About what?" Reyna muttered. She wiped the sweat from her face again and grabbed another bottle of water.

"The interview," Annabeth answered. Reyna stared at the water bottle as she tried to regulate her breathing. She drained it, so she wouldn't have to offer a response. Annabeth waited.

"I don't have anything to say about it," Reyna finally replied.

"I do," Annabeth stated. "I want to apologize. I didn't mean what I said."

"Then, what exactly did you mean?" Reyna questioned as she turned toward Annabeth to meet her eyes. Annabeth hesitated and seemed to be looking for the correct response. Was there really a right answer to that, though?

When nothing was said, Reyna shook her head and turned back to the punching bag. She took her stance again. Annabeth spoke again, "I'm sorry again for what I said."

"You know what I don't understand?" Reyna asked as she lowered her fists, turning back to Annabeth. "Everyone jumped down my throat when I did the same thing to Frank, and I deserved it. I shouldn't have said what I did.

"But, you just displayed the same lack of faith in me, for the whole damn world to see," Reyna continued. She tried to keep most of the anger out of her voice, and a scowl slipped onto her face. "No one is mad at you because of it. No one jumped down your throat or told you that you were being a terrible teammate."

Annabeth looked like she was going to say something, but Reyna shook her head. She turned her back to her teammate and started to punch the bag again. Annabeth spoke, "I really am sorry."

Reyna just ignored her. It didn't take long for Annabeth to walk away, leaving Reyna to stew in her anger. Her limbs ached from how hard she had been training, but there was no time for exhaustion. She just had to push forward.

Reyna took a few sips from her water bottle and stared at the laptop in front of her. She was watching films of Clarisse's last few fights. There was no use in watching them, though. Clarisse didn't change her fighting style; she just punched and tried to bulldoze through anyone in her way.

Well, she did use an armbar on Reyna for what was probably her first time ever, so Clarisse did have a few tricks up her sleeve. Reyna had to be prepared for anything. She rubbed her chin and glanced to the side. Annabeth was intently watching her own playbacks and scratching down notes.

Reyna looked back ahead. She hated that Annabeth said those things during the interview. And no one called her out on it like they did when Reyna did the same thing to Frank. It upset Reyna, but she wasn't as mad as she thought she would be.

Truthfully, Reyna was hurt. The realization made her sit back and exhale. Why would she be so hurt, though? It was just Annabeth's wrong opinion. Then again, it was Annabeth's opinion. And Reyna really did respect her opinion.

Annabeth had always been there for her as well. Between the car wreck and comforting Reyna when she learned about her mother, Annabeth was there to help her with whatever she needed. Now, Annabeth wasn't showing that same support.

It wasn't a tactic to throw Reyna off her game; Annabeth would want to face her, and Reyna wanted to go against her. So, Annabeth wouldn't have said what she did with ill intent. It was a mistake, which didn't make Reyna feel any better.

Why did Reyna care about what Annabeth thought anyway? Yeah, Annabeth was smart and caring. She was pretty hot too, but that had nothing to do with the situation. Besides, the last time Reyna cared about someone's opinion this much was with... Gwen.

"Shit," Reyna whispered.

"Something wrong?" Annabeth asked. Reyna slowly looked at Annabeth. She had taken an earbud out and was watching her with concern.

"No," Reyna replied. She remembered all too clearly how she was around Gwen when she first realized that she had a crush on her. Any criticism that Gwen gave her about how she fought was taken to heart, and Reyna did everything to improve on it.

And Reyna had the same damn crush on Annabeth Chase.

"Fu..." Reyna bit her thumb to stop the sentence where it started. Okay. This was fine. It was fine that Reyna had a crush on Annabeth. On the woman who she would be fighting for a title. The woman who was best friends with Thalia Grace. Who was struggling with her sexuality.

Who would probably think that this was some kind of tactic to distract her from their upcoming title match. And really, Annabeth wasn't going to want to date Reyna after Reyna took her title from her. Reyna surely wouldn't.

This was fine. This was going to be fine, and it definitely wouldn't blow up in her face. Not at all. No way. Reyna just had to take these feelings and stuff them deep inside. Just until they faded away. There was no reason to bring it back out. At all.

Reyna inhaled deeply before rubbing her forehead. She exhaled. It was going to be fine. Hopefully.

"Hey, Annabeth," Reyna began. She glanced to the side and saw Annabeth focusing intently on the video. Reyna looked back ahead at the screen. Did she really have a crush on Annabeth? Was she just being ridiculous? It felt like she was being ridiculous.

But, Reyna knew she wasn't. A sigh left her, and she reached out to gently tap Annabeth's arm. Annabeth jumped and looked at her. She took out an earbud, "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about earlier," Reyna began.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing," Annabeth declined.

"Which you did do. I just ignored you," Reyna clarified. "So, I'm sorry about that."

"And I'm sorry that I said those things at all," Annabeth replied. "I don't want to put a dent in your confidence or anything like that."

"You didn't," Reyna said softly. "All is forgiven."

Annabeth smiled at her. God, she had such a beautiful smile. Reyna forced a smile back before focusing back on the video she was watching. Why the hell did she allow herself to get feelings for Annabeth? And why the hell did she let Annabeth get so close?

Reyna knew what happened when she let people get close, and it was only a matter of time until it happened again.