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It all starts with an invitation.
He's going through the mail like he does everyday when he finds a crisp white envelope addressed to Mr. Grace and Ms. McLean in immaculate handwriting that's all too familiar.
He breaks the seal with shaky fingers and his eyes scan the invitation, a sense of dread pooling in his stomach.
He drags his feet to the bedroom. "Reyna and Malcolm are getting married." He kept his voice as emotionless as possible.
Piper beams at him from where she’s folding the laundry. “She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. Mother gave them her blessing. The ceremony’s going to be gorgeous."
“Yeah."
"You look shocked."
Why is he so shocked? Reyna and Malcolm have been together for years. He just didn't peg her as the marriage type... at least that's what he tells himself. "I’m just surprised.”
Piper looks at him funny. “I have to make an appointment for you to get a haircut. Reyna’ll kill you if you show up to her wedding looking like a shaggy labrador.”
"Yeah."
♕
Jason tried to pretend it wasn’t happening. He convinced himself that the calendar on the wall is counting down the days until someone’s birthday and the gift they bought was for a housewarming. He convinced himself that he and Piper were flying from Rhode Island to California for a vacation, not a wedding. He tells himself the suit he bought was for funerals or fancy dinners with Piper's dad.
It’s the morning of the wedding that it hits him like a brick.
His phone alarm goes off, and he glares around their dimly lit hotel room until he finds it and shuts it off. He buries himself under the blankets and groans.
Piper gave him a good morning kiss, already showered and half dressed. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”
“I don’t want too,” he mumbles. Usually it’s the other way around, he wakes up early to exercise before work and she tries to bribe him with cuddles.
Piper’s eyes were bright. “Get your ass up, soldier. Reyna’s going to kill us if we’re late.”
He drags his feet to the bathroom and showers. When he emerges from the bathroom, he sees Piper and his eyes go wide. “You look gorgeous.”
Piper blushes and puts on her other earring.“You’re not so bad yourself, Sparky.
♕
The ceremony was being held at the Garden of Bacchus in Camp Jupiter, which were absolutely gorgeous at this time of year.
Everyone Jason knows is at the wedding; he even spots his father and stepmother in the
front row where all the Olympians were seated. The legion members were seated in the rows behind them, followed by the Hunters and the Amazons.
Jason hugged Nico before sliding into the pew. “Got your speech ready, best man?”
Nico groaned. “Annabeth and I were up all night writing it.”
Percy clapped Jason on the back. “Jay-bird, long time no see.”
Jason and Piper had moved to Rhode Island three years after the war with Gaia. Jason really didn't want to leave the camps that had become his home and everyone he knew, but Piper thought it was the perfect quiet place to raise a family, and he wanted to make her happy.
Jason squeezed him tight. “I missed you so much, bro.”
Percy chuckled and pretended to wipe a tear. “Here I was thinking you’d replace me.”
Hazel and Frank join them, looking as young and in love as they had three years ago.
Annabeth leans over Percy to talk to Hazel. "How does she look?"
“Amazing! She’s glowing,” gushed Hazel.
“She’s not the only one.”
Hazel’s hand immediately flew to her stomach. “Frank and I were waiting until after the wedding to tell you guys..."
Percy connects the dots first and wraps an arm around both of them. “Congratulations!”
Jason doesn't think it's possible for him to be more shocked than he is right now. “You’re pregnant?!”
“Two months.”
“Does Nico know?”
Hazel beamed and nodded. “He’s so excited to be an uncle.”
All conversation is cut off when the music starts playing and everyone stands.
Jason's heart stops when he sees her walking down the aisle.
Reyna looks stunning, she really does. Her wedding dress is pure lace and the white color makes her tan skin glow. It accents her curves and her incredibly long legs, all while making her look even more regal. Her long hair is curled and swept to one side in a romantic hairstyle. She looks like a goddess.
She smiles at Malcolm when she gets to the altar, and a little piece of Jason dies.
Hera glanced around. “Does anyone have any objections to this union? Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Jason can feel the eyes on him.
“Do you, Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano, take Malcolm Evans to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
“I do.”
A small, small part of Jason was hoping that she'd say anything but that.
“Do you, Malcolm Evans, take Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
Hera smiles. "You may kiss the bride.”
Malcolm leans in and presses their lips together in a soft kiss, and everyone in the audience cheers while Jason grips the armrest of his chair.
Next to him, Piper sniffles and quickly wipes away a tear, her smile watery. "I'm so happy for them."
Jason can't bring himself to feel the same.
Jason and Piper are seated at table with Annabeth and Percy, Hazel and Frank, and Nico and Will for the reception, all of whom can't stop gushing.
“That was perfect.”
“They’re so in love.”
“Malcolm’s the luckiest man alive.”
When a waiter comes around with a platter of champagne, Jason takes two. Hopefully the bar will be open soon.
Half an hour into the reception, Reyna comes over to greet them.
Annabeth hugs her before she can even get a word out. "You look so gorgeous.”
Reyna smiled and blushed. Happy looks really good on her. "Drew did an amazing job."
Thalia tucked a curl behind Reyna’s ear. "If this whole marriage thing doesn't work out..."
Annabeth swatted her. “Stop flirting with married women.”
Reyna hugs Hazel and Frank next. “Thank you guys for coming.”
Frank's on the verge of tears. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Hazel rubs his back and beams at Reyna. “I’m so happy for you.”
“I’m happy for you too. I can’t wait to be a godmother.”
Percy hugs Reyna last. "So what's it like being the bride?"
"It's nice...All of your parents are already drunk, but no one's fighting so that's a plus."
Jason does his best to smile and engage in conversation, but he at some point he can't take it anymore - she's so close, but so far away. “Excuse me, I'll be back."
He locks himself in a bathroom stall and slams his head on the door. He only has himself to blame for this. He was the one that fucked her over. He was the one that was too prideful to even apologize. He was the one that didn't reach out to her, even when he knew she was cracking under the pressure of being praetor and grieving for all the lives they'd lost in the war.
Part of him thinks knows he deserves this pain, he was the one that chose Piper after all. He chose the easy way out and now he's paying for it. He slides down the door and it isn't until he feels the hot tarts running down his face that he knows he's absolutely fucked.
“Jason?” The sound echoes through the empty bathroom and shakes Jason from his angry thoughts.
Jason hastily wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his tux. “In here Nico.”
“Piper sent me to check on you.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be out in a sec. Go have some fun.”
Jason slumps against the wall when he hears Nico shut the door. Going back out there and seeing Reyna smiling and kissing Malcolm is the last thing he wants to do right now. Even crawling out of the bathroom window and falling to his death doesn’t seem so bad.
Roughly ten minutes later he hears Piper's voice. “Jay?”
Shit,shit,shit “Yes?” His voice cracks a little at the end, but he doubts she’ll notice it.
Jason quickly dries his tears and prays his eyes aren’t puffy before exiting the stall with whatever shards of dignity he has left.
Piper doesn’t look pissed, she looks more concerned than anything, and that makes him feel guilty. "Should I be offended you've spent half the reception in the bathroom instead of with me?"
Jason shook his head. "I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“Are you feeling sick? Reyna’ll understand if we have to leave.”
Jason shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“It’s not that...It's just hard."
Piper seems to understand. "You still like her don’t you?"
“I don’t!”
Piper’s smile is strained. “So why are you crying at her wedding instead of celebrating like everyone else?"
He winces. “I’m not crying.”
Piper looks disappointed. “Jay…”
Jason wants to claw all of his hair out. “I don’t know.”
"You can talk to me about these things."
"There's nothing to talk about," he snaps.
Piper raises her eyebrows.
His anger dissipates. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the hotel? I’ll tell everyone you had a stomachache.”
That’s exactly what he wants to do, but he isn’t that selfish. Piper’s been looking forward to this for weeks and who knows when he’ll see all his friends again. “No.”
"Are you sure you can handle it?"
“I’m a soldier,” He says more to himself than to her. “I can do anything.”
He emerges from the bathroom hand in hand with Piper, looking on top of the world and feeling like absolute shit.
Percy's happily munching on a brownie when they sit down. “You guys missed their first dance.”
Jason feels more relieved than anything.
Hazel's golden eyes lock on him. “Did you get food poisoning?"
Jason shook his head. "I'm fine."
“Frank has his lactose pills if you need some.”
Jason can tell she’ll be a great mother. He shook his head and forced a smile. “Really guys, I'm okay."
He spends the rest of the night dancing with Piper, Nico, and Percy until the bar opens.
He slumps onto a bar stool. "Can I have two shots of vodka?"
Next to him, Hylla sips her martini and smiles at where Reyna and Malcolm are dancing. “I’ve never seen her this happy.”
Jason forced a smile. “Me too.”
Hylla's eyes, the same color as Reyna's, scrutinized his disheveled appearance. “You don’t seem very happy.”
Jason throws back his first shot and winces. “I’m absolutely ecstatic.”
Hylla snorts. “You did this to yourself, blondie.”
Jason feels his anger boiling. “I did?”
“No one told you to choose Piper."
Jason grips the glass in his hands. “Reyna pulled away from me after Charleston.”
“Because Aphrodite spoke to her. And my sister is too busy running camps and winning wars to be worried about some snotty nosed son of Jupiter who can't make up his mind."
Jason grits his teeth. “Don’t act like this isn’t what you wanted all along.” Hylla had hated him the minute she'd laid eyes on him in the Principa years ago.
Hylla smiled and sipped her martini. “Honey, you’re the one acting like everything’s fine and dandy. Piper's not as easily fooled as you think she is."
“Leave Piper out of this,” he hissed.
“You’re the one who brought her in this and told her you didn’t have feelings for my sister. I’m no Aphrodite, but even I know starting a relationship on a lie isn’t a good move. ”
Jason’s about to tell her exactly where she can shove that martini glass when Reyna saunters over to them, one eyebrow raised. “Is everything okay over here?”
Hylla beamed. “We were just talking how happy we are that you found someone who actually deserves you.”
Jason counts to ten because he can feel the electricity in his fingertips begging to be released.
Reyna hugged her sister. “I’m so happy you came.”
“I’d never miss your wedding. Malcolm’s going to be a fantastic husband."
“He is."
Hylla takes her purse off the bar. “If you'll excuse me, I’m going to find Thalia."
Reyna doesn't even look at Jason until Hylla leaves. "Hello, Jason.” Her tone is formal and polite, harboring none of the fondness it used to. “Percy said you weren’t feeling well.”
“I’m fine. I probably ate some shrimp by accident or something.”
“We didn’t serve any seafood. We didn’t want to risk Neptune’s wrath.” She smiles off the awkwardness. “Did you like the ceremony?”
“It was beautiful.” Jason took a deep breath and steadied his voice. Time to put on his big boy underwear. “Congratulations. I’m really happy for you.”
Reyna beamed at him. “Thank you."
Jason wanted to say something, anything about the turmoil raging inside him. He wants to talk about how things worked out or how they could've been so much more than friends or how badly he wants to be in Malcolm's position, but he keeps his mouth shut. It's for the best.
“Piper caught the bouquet.” She smiles mischievously. "And you know what that means..."
Jason shook his head. “I don’t think marriage is for us.”
Juno hadn’t been subtle with her hints about wanting Piper and Jason to wed, but Jason wasn't exactly on board.
Reyna snorted. “I said the same thing, and look at me. Weddings are plenty of fun though."
"Loads.” He clears his throat. “So um...do you guys want to have kids?"
Reyna rolled her eyes. “Do you know how many times I’ve been asked that? I got married not two hours ago, give me a break. ”
“Sorry.”
"Maybe." There's a dreamy look in her dark eyes. "Malcolm would be an amazing dad, and we talked about maybe having one or two."
Speak of the devil.
“There’s my beautiful wife. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Malcolm wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. “Mom sends her love and her brownie recipe."
Jason looks away for his own sake.
Malcolm whispers something in Reyna’s ear and she slaps his chest playfully. "We'll have plenty of time for that on our honeymoon, but right now isn't the time."
Malcolm smiles that easy smile of his. "But it can be..."
Reyna turns back to Jason and smiles apologetically. “I’m sorry to cut our conversation short, but I have a honeymoon to attend. Feel free to take a gift bag.”
Jason smiled, but he knew it was empty. He's been trying to work up the nerve to tell her how he feels, the way he should've done it years ago, but he's too much of a coward. “Thank you."
Hera's voice rang out as Jason wandered back to where his friends were seated. “Thank you all for attending. Please write a note for our bride and groom on the paper at your table and place them in the jar before you leave.”
Thalia poked Annabeth in the side with a pencil. “Annabeth, I have no fucking clue what to write. "
Percy smirked. “I wrote sparring is great foreplay, not like you guys didn’t already know. One time I caught them making out on the training grounds after Capture the Flag."
Jason pretended he didn't hear that.
Annabeth swats his shoulder. “Hush. I wrote find a balance between work and romance."
“What about you best man?”
Nico was staring at the slip of paper like it had grown four heads. "I've never been married. I don't know."
Will folded up his paper and placed it in the jar. “I gave them some sex song recommendations. "
“What about you, Jason?”
Jason looks down at his own slip of paper. I still love you. “I told them to make time to spend with each other,” he briefly wonders when he got so good at lying through his teeth. He probably inherited it from his dad.
“Aw, they should’ve made you the best man.”
Jason laughed along with the rest of them.
He catches eyes with Reyna as she walks out arm in arm with Malcolm I never stopped loving you, he whispers, but she can’t hear him over the sound of her newfound happiness.
I still love you
When he's back at their hotel room and Piper's sucking on his neck, Reyna’s bright smile is all he can think about.
But that doesn’t change the fact that he's four years too late.
I still love you
Marianna Evans was born two years later. She was a restless bundle of energy packaged in a cute exterior. She had her mother’s intense eyes, even at the tender age of six months.
Reyna beamed as she held the little girl in her arms. “She’s too much like her father.”
Malcolm kissed her temple. “We all know she’s going to be a warrior just like her mum.”
Jason sucked it up and smiled. He can clearly remember his fourteen year old self daydreaming about having a family with her and teaching their kids how to ride bikes and little things like that, but that seems like ages ago now.
I still love you
Piper didn’t want a big wedding, but whenever the gods were involved lavish follows. It's a fact of life.
Jason played the part of a happy groom well. He smiled and laughed and accepted compliments.
It wasn’t that he was unhappy; he loved Piper. This was the life he’d chosen, fought for, but he couldn’t swallow the feeling that it wasn’t quite right. A small part of him still doubted.
He sees Reyna smiling at Malcolm like he was the sun that lit up her entire world and chasing after little Marianna, and he knew that things worked out for the best, even if it didn’t feel like it.
He stopped pretending that they’d ever have the kind of relationship they used to, but a small irrational part of him still hoped that one day fate would bring them together instead of tearing them apart.