Thalia's POV

My remark earned me a glare from Reyna but let's be honest here, was it really that bad of a statement? Then again I could only imagine what I'd do if the love goddess Greek or Roman decided to doll me up in front of everyone. There would definitely be blood. Lots and lots of blood. Not mine of course.

Andy didn't stick around for more than two seconds after he figured out who his cabin mates were. He let out an aggravated growl and stormed off with his fists clenched.

"I wasn't expecting that," Thia admitted. "Now I feel kind of bad. That seriously sucks."

"How so? I mean, having Venus as a parent maybe, but wasn't he worried about not being claimed? I know what that's like. He should be excited." Reyna stared at the spot where the boy had been previously. Piper had immediately gone after him. If anyone knew what that situation was like it was her.

"No, you don't get it," Thia sighed, her eyebrows creasing together.

"Enlighten us," I pleaded, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"His past isn't great. The one thing he's really wanted is affection. Love from his parents. Getting claimed by the love goddess is like salt in the wound. If it's the one thing you really want and that's exactly what your godly parent deals with why didn't they provide it?" Blinking I took a moment to process this information. Maybe I hadn't given the kid enough credit. I knew what it was like having shitty parents.

"A wise point of view," Reyna smiled. Thia pressed her lips into a thin line forming a look of indecision on her face.

"I'm gonna go apologize for giving him a hard time," she sighed, standing and slinging a leg over the bench. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

"You know you should probably apologize too." Reyna looked pointedly at mad as Thia walked off.

"I will most certainly not. Every boy is a potential threat Reyna. It is my duty to scare them. I take my job very seriously." Reyna rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Babe, she's gonna hate you if you keep doing that sort of thing. Whether she likes the boy or not. There is such a thing as just having male friends." Reyna had a point but still. I completely despised the idea of Thia's future dating life. I wasn't entirely sure why but just the mere thought of it made me sick to my stomach. I suppose my biggest fear was her inevitably having her heart broken. The love goddess Greek or Roman was never kind.

"Okay, you're right," I sighed. Reyna gave me a soft look as if she knew something I didn't. "What?"

"I'm not telling you. It's a discussion you and Thia will have to have on your own." Reyna wore a smug expression which only made me slightly irritated.

"I hate it when you're secretive." Grumbling I decided to finally get something to eat. Food always made me feel better.

It was rather quiet now that the little claiming incident had happened but I didn't mind it much. When Reyna and I had first started dating we'd hate the silence but now it wasn't so bad. We didn't really have to talk in order to figure out what the other one was thinking.

Reyna never ate much and she wasn't the type of person to want to stay up late unless she absolutely had to, so I wasn't too surprised when she crawled into my lap like a cat.

"Tired?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. Mostly from thinking," Reyna sighed, leaning back against my chest.

"Give me another minute and try not to fall asleep." There had been countless times where I was forced to carry Reyna up to bed because she'd fallen asleep in some weird spot. She nodded but gave a melancholy sounding sigh. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied quietly. It had to be something but I figured if it was important it could be addressed later in a more private setting.

"M'kay." I pressed a gentle kiss on her shoulder while she relaxed. As it turned out Reyna inevitably fell asleep. Nothing I couldn't fix. She wasn't hard to carry and was incredibly light despite her steel muscle like frame.

Sure, carrying a sleeping praetor bridal style earned a lot of weird looks but anyone who'd stuck around long enough knew it was a common sight. Upon entering the cabin I spotted Thia already passed out asleep in her bunk having actually changed into pajamas for once.

Once I'd tucked Reyna in I climbed up the side ladder to the top bunk where Thia resided and studied her face. She looked much younger when she slept. Sure, she still looked young for her age, there had been times when she'd been mistaken for a thirteen or fourteen year old but it was starting to happen less frequently now.

She was absolutely adorable nonetheless. Her short brown hair was tossled wildly and hung in a curtain around her face. Sighing, I tucked the strands behind her ear and placed a quick kiss to her forehead before heading to my own spot to sleep.

Reyna was warm as always; a personal heater so to speak. Closing my eyes I was eager for the day to be over without another incident but I ran out of luck a while ago.

I was a relatively deep sleeper but my mind and body had been trained to detect even the slightest thing that seemed off or odd. So it was no surprise to me that I woke up at a random part in the middle of the night. It took me a moment to realize why as my senses cleared away the remnants of sleep.

My eyes adjusted slowly to the dark but I managed to use my other senses to detect part of what was wrong. The sound of shallow breathing met my ears and very slowly Reyna's form came into focus as my eyes adjusted at last. It was a sight I'd seen numerous times before but it was still worrisome.

Reyna's face was scrunched up in a painful grimace and her hand clutched her chest. This sort of thing happened on occasion ever since the incident in New Rome where she'd nearly died. It was a side effect for being stabbed in the chest but it was a painful one.

It occurred most commonly at night and after it had happened a handful of times the two of us had concluded it was typically after a rather intense nightmare. When one's heart rate got too high under stressful conditions.

"It's okay, just try and breath." Speaking softly I ran a hand through her hair that was damp with a thin layer of sweat. After another minute of this she slowly began to relax until her breathing returned to normal. "You okay now?"

"Yeah." Reyna sucked in a hesitant breath before sighing. "Gods I hate when that happens."

"I know, I'm sorry." I kissed her cheek and pulled her closer. Reyna pressed her face into my chest and I noticed that her shoulders were shaking slightly. "Rey, what's wrong?"

She didn't answer for a moment but I let her be not wanting to press the matter and simply rubbed her back. I had a feeling it had to do with whatever she'd been thinking about at dinner. She didn't bother to pull back but spoke in a muffled voice. "Just a nightmare."

"Wanna talk about it?" It wasn't like Reyna to get worked up so easily unless it was something particularly unpleasant. I had an idea of what it was, it was typically the same nightmare in these instances.

"We've talked about it numerous nights before," she muttered. I was right. It was the same one. She was reliving that dreadful night in the reconstructed coliseum. The cause of that long scar that ran along her sternum.

"I know. But you're okay. You're safe," I assured. She nodded and loosened her hold on me just enough to look into my eyes. I could see the small hint of fear in her gaze. "I promise."

"Sorry for waking you," Reyna apologized, her eyes flicking away to something else.

"It's fine, I've woken you before." Pausing I thought for a moment on how to get Reyna to tell me that something else was clearly bothering her. "Rey, what's bothering you? Let me help."

"I just need to think for a moment. You know I'm not good with describing my feelings." Reyna's voice was quiet but I let her be. I knew how hard it could be to phrase things when describing an emotional rollercoaster.

My eyes drifted downwards and I couldn't help but notice that she was spinning the two rings on her finger nervously. The one from her mother and the one from me. She always did that when something was bugging her.

"I just, with everything going on, I feel like I don't do enough for you." Reyna spoke at last staring up at the ceiling.

"What? Don't say that. You do plenty." Reyna swallowed hard and met my gaze for a moment. "Hell, every chance you get you hold my hand, or tackle me in hugs, and every time I look at you you want to kiss me. Mind you, I'm not complaining.

That drew a very small smile on her face. "I just don't feel like it's enough. Thals, if things were to end today I don't want to have any regrets. If one of us was to die..."

"Things aren't that bad yet and there might be a way to fix our apocalypse situation." I was trying to understand where she was coming from and more importantly what had brought on this spurt of emotion.

Reyna hid her face in the crook of my neck and I held her tightly in my arms. "I just want you to know that I love you."

"I do, I love you too." Reyna let out a soft sigh, her breath tickling my neck. It was quickly followed up by a gentle kiss from her.

"I feel like we haven't spent as much time together as we could have. If things don't work out I don't want to have to wish for more time. I want to know I made the most of it while I had the chance," she explained. So that was the real problem.

"We always wish for more time. It's human nature. I like to think we've done the best we can." Reyna shifted so that our legs were tangled together again and I had to admit, it was nice having her so close.

"Have we?" Reyna asked.

"What do you mean?"  I questioned.

"Thalia, there were so many times we should have spent time together but didn't. For Gods sake do you remember our wedding? We got home and I immediately had to change and go solve some emergency. When I came home you'd fallen asleep on the stairs waiting for me and I had to carry you up to bed. What couple does that? I mean everyone knows what's supposed to happen on wedding nights and we both passed out asleep." It was hard not to laugh at the memory. It was quiet amusing looking back on it but it had been frustrating at the time.

I could understand what Reyna was getting at. It felt like we never got any peace and when we did it was because something lurked around the corner with an evil smile ready to snatch us up.

"I just miss getting to be alone with you and not having to worry about anything. It's frustrating. I don't want to deal with any trouble anymore. At least for one evening. That's all I ask for." The frustration and sadness was clear in Reyna's voice and I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty.

"I'll figure something out, I promise." Reyna propped herself up on her elbows and studied my expression for a moment.  Her features softened as soon as she looked at me like she couldn't keep her heart from melting. "Until then you'll have to settle for a kiss and maybe an awesome hug."

Reyna rolled her eyes but she inevitably leaned in and pressed her lips against mine. I kissed her deeply and lovingly for a while before pulling back and convincing her to try and get some rest. She didn't need to worry about the universe right now.

Like usual after Reyna had an uninvited nightmare she pressed herself as close to me as possible in the search for safety. I didn't mind, it was comforting having her so close. I just hoped that I could follow through on my promise.

It was difficult trying to fall back asleep on my part. I always worried after one of her chest pains flared up. I'd thought of every worse case scenario on the planet. I was terrified that at some point I might not wake up and things would go poorly.

Sometimes I wished the fights we'd won didn't leave any marks behind. Mine were hard enough to deal with but it was hard to watch Reyna suffer as well. It only instilled my desire to keep Thia as far away from combat as possible. I couldn't imagine seeing her go through something horrific and being damaged by it.

So I fought my urge to fall asleep for as long as possible until I couldn't bear it anymore. I made sure to keep my hold on Reyna tight. She was safe as long as I held onto her. In the end I only relaxed enough to let sleep creep into my consciousness because I buried my face in Reyna's hair causing her familiar scent to relax me.

I knew that I did the same for her in similar situations. Who knew pine trees and hot cocoa could go so well together?