There's no love without pain // Jeyna

5. The Day He Became Preator

Jason's POV 

Three months was starting to seem like three years to Jason. 

It had taken him 2 years to break through Reyna's shields once. He knew that it might take even more time to get through once again. Because this time he'd left her and defied her trust, which she only puts in very few people. Winning it back would take a lot of work on his part. He knew he wouldn't ever give up on her but he just hoped that he had enough time. He couldn't lose her... not again...

***

Jason remebered this day too well. It was his first day as Preator. 

The senate had chosen him, probably, because he was the son of Jupiter. Not that he didn't actually do well, it was just that the senate always seemed to give him special treatment. I mean they let him get away with a lot of rebellious things, even though they did end up resulting well. Jason couldn't help but feel that the senate was, indeed, a bit lenient towards him. 

Reyna had become Preator even before he did and she'd kept made fun of him for it. They had become pretty good friends over the 2 years that she's been at Camp and Jason believed that they might become best friends if they became Preators together. Maybe, he dared to hope, even a bit more than friends. He knew that that was just wishful thinking, Reyna would never want to be more than just friends. 

He sighed aloud. At the moment him and Reyna were walking back to the Principia. 

"What?" Asked Reyna, with a small smile on her face. Her hair was tied up in her usual high ponytail. Jason smiled, seeing her happy. She wasn't usually very open towards others but he was one among few who had managed to break through her shields. 

"Oh, I'm getting tired just thinking of all the paperwork that we'll have to do." Said Jason, sarcastically. 

"You should be grateful that you got the position in the first place." She started. "You haven't even started yet. And by 'we' you mean the work that I'll have to do, if I'm not wrong?"  

Jason gave her a crooked smile and a wink. Her usually calm façade seemed to falter for a second then she shook her head and continued walking in her usual demeanor. 

But Jason had seen her falter and his heart was now fluttering in his chest and his lips hid a secret smile. Jason loved that day, mainly because he got to spend all his time with Reyna. Since she was Preator already (though only for a few months) she had to show Jason around his villa and explain to him about all the duties of being Preator. Jason was taking over from the last person who was now retiring to New Rome. 

But, most of all, Jason loved that evening, or rather the morning after it because what happened was something that Jason cherishes as his doing.

 That night as they were finishing up on their paperwork, Jason, accidentally, fell asleep on top of the documents that he was supposed to be signing. Reyna saw this and started laughing. Jason woke up in a daze and said "Goodnight!" as he got up from his chair, stretched and yawned. 

"Where are you going? You haven't finished signing those." Said Reyna, sternly, though she seemed really sleepy, as well. Her eyelids were already drooping. 

"We can do this tomorrow, come on. Go sleep." Said Jason. 

"But-" She couldn't complete her sentence, as it was interupted by her yawning loudly. 

"You can't sign anything if you're this sleepy, come on!" Said Jason. In his desperation, he carried her, bridal style and dumped her on the sofa. 

"Jason!" Came her protest. Oh, she was wide awake now. She sat up and glared at the boy who had the nerve to laugh at her. She took a pillow from the sofa and threw it at him. He just laughed and collapsed on the couch, next to her. Suddenly, before Reyna had time to think, she got hit in the face by a pillow. And then, of course, they had a pillow fight. Which, undoubtedly, ended with Reyna on top of Jason, pinning him against the sofa, smirking, as always. 

Her hair had come down from her high ponytail and it was hanging like curtains arond her face. She got up from the sofa, stretched and said, "I win." 

Jason grumbled something along the lines of "not fair" and "cheated". Reyna chuckled and sat down beside Jason.

Jason suddenly had an idea. "Turn around." He said. 

"Why?" Asked Reyna, her eyes narrowed, suspiciously. 

"Just turn."

Reyna turned so that her back was facing him and Jason took her hair in his hands. Reyna's brows furrowed. He parted her hair on one side and started braiding it down her back. He searched around the sofa for the elastic she had tied her hair with and tied it at the end of the braid when he found it. He put her hair across her left shoulder and made her face him by nudging her slightly. 

Jason felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He wasn't exactly good at styling hair and he'd forgotten to include a few strands but those strands framed her face beautifully and she looked like an old roman statue of some goddess. Jason wasn't sure which, but he felt that, right now, she might have looked even better than Venus herself. 

"You look good." Said Jason, faintly. Colour filled her cheeks.

"Well. . ." Started Reyna, whilst getting up and moving towards the mountain of paperwork they still had to do. "Since we're not sleepy anymore maybe we could finish-" 

"Oh no! You're going to sleep!" Said Jason, shaking his head vigorously and pulling her out of the Principia. Reyna smiled at his antics. He pulled open her villa door and said, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Said Reyna, and she got inside and waved at him. Jason waved back and went to his villa. 

The next morning, Jason was in for a surprise because that was the first day that Reyna adopted her braided hair look and Jason was glad to say that he was the reason for it.

***  

A/N : Yay! That was pretty long too. I always thought that Jason would be the one who braided Reyna's hair and I was glad to include that in this. Anyway, hope you enjoyed

Yours Truly 

ReynaLovegood2 :)