So here I am again, sitting at my computer because I had a stupid plot bunny running around my head and screaming. Yet again. And so I wrote up this… random angst-y one-shot.

So this is based on Train's "This Ain't Goodbye." My friend SeaofWisdom18 got me obsessed with the song (thanks a lot, Cat—it's been stuck in my head for three days straight. THREE FREAKING DAYS!)

Anyway, review if you liked it, if you hated it, if this made you want to cry. Or laugh maniacally at my attempt at angst. Whatever.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything; not the song or the characters. They belong to Train and Rick Riordan.

This Ain't Goodbye

You and I were friends from outer space
Afraid to let go

Reyna gritted her teeth. She couldn't believe it—her best friend, the boy she'd once loved was gone. Just gone. Instead, there was a stranger who'd stolen his face prancing all over Camp Jupiter with his stupid new girlfriend: Piper McLean, daughter of Venus.

The only two who understood this place

She could remember when they were both eight, and she'd been crying—missing her old home and what little scraps of a family she had.

"Reyna, what's wrong?" eight-year-old Jason had asked her.

She'd wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "Do you ever miss home?"

"I don't really remember my home…" his blue eyes were sad.

She put on a brave face and smiled. "Well, we've got each other."

And as far as we know
We were way before our time
As bold as we were blind

Should their romance have brewed a couple years earlier? Should it have come later on, when they were both fully grown up and more level-headed?

Just another perfect mistake

It'd been too perfect. Venus, cruel Venus, had set it up. Him saving her life. Her saving his. The goddess of love had made it all up, just so she could tear them apart. Just so she could break Reyna's heart for her own daughter's part in a tragic love triangle.

Another bridge to take
On the way of letting go

Piper had formed a rift between them, a gaping chasm that neither of them could build a bridge over. Of course, Jason could simply fly over—metaphorically and in real life. The choice was all his. But it just had to be Reyna. She was the one who would have to jump across and pray she didn't fall into the void.

This ain't goodbye
This is just where love goes
When words aren't warm enough to keep away the cold

On Jason's fifteenth birthday, Jupiter had arranged for some snow to fall. There was no proof, but Jason and Reyna knew. It was his birthday present to his son on the day when he became a man… at least, to the Romans.

Jason shivered. Reyna glanced at him anxiously.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Just a b-bit c-c-cold," he answered.

She wrapped her arms around him. "Better?"

He grinned. "Yeah."

She started to sing happy birthday in his ear.

"Is this my birthday present from you?"

Reyna stopped. "No," she said. "This is." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and fled so he couldn't see her blush and grin like an idiot.

This ain't goodbye
It's not where our story ends
But I know you can't be mine, not the way you've always been
As long as we've got time
Then this ain't goodbye
Oh no, this ain't goodbye

"I'm not giving up, Venus. You won't ever break me. I'm not saying goodbye to what we had, just for your entertainment!"

We were stars up in the sunlit sky

They were like the celebrity couple of camp. Him, praetor of the First Legion; your typical golden boy, handsome and heroic and brave. Her, praetor of the Twelfth Legion; exotic and adventurous, pretty in a more brooding sense.

No one else could see
Neither of us ever thought to ask why
It wasn't meant to be

Was it true? That they had been doomed from the start, just like Romeo and Juliet?

Maybe we were way too high

To ever understand

"Hey, Reyna," Jason had asked once, "why do you like climbing trees so much?"

"When there's a breeze and I'm sitting way up here, it's almost like I'm flying."

"Mmm." He paused and blushed, looking into her dark eyes. "I could show you what it's like to really fly, you know." He wrapped his arms around her waist before rising off the ground, soaring high above the tree tops.

"This is amazing," she breathed. "Thanks."

It made her sick to imagine Jason doing the same with Piper.

Maybe we were victims of all the foolish plans
We began to devise

Once Jason had come back, they'd started bickering more. Constantly at each other's throats, snarling like wild dogs.

But this ain't goodbye
This is just the way love goes
When words aren't warm enough to keep away the cold.

Nowadays, Reyna felt cold and empty. And numb, especially when she saw Jason and Piper together. She was barely a shadow of her old self. She'd been charismatic, charming, warm and welcoming—a favorite of the legionnaires. Now she was hard and cruel, and her dark eyes were shattered.

This ain't goodbye
It's not where our story ends

Stories continued off the pages of books, didn't they? Once you closed a book, the characters didn't die. The plot didn't fade. The story didn't end. But Reyna didn't feel like their book had been shut. She felt like their story had been shredded to pieces and rewritten, in which Jason fell for a flawless beauty and she was simply the jealous antagonist.

But I know you can't be mine
Just like the way you've always been

Reyna was always tenacious. She never gave up. But how could she fight a god's will?

As long as we've got time,
This ain't goodbye

It's not over, Reyna thought. It's never over until we die.

Oh no, this ain't good bye, oh oh, oh no this ain't goodbye
This ain't goodbye

Reyna stormed over to Piper. "YOU DIDN'T KNOW JASON FOR YOUR ENTIRE CHILDHOOD! YOU DIDN'T ADVENTURE WITH HIM FOR YEARS! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO STEAL HIM!"

"Jason chose me," Piper said simply. "That's that. And I did not steal him."

Reyna screamed in anger. "I'm not giving up our entire history just so your stupid mother can have her tragic love story!"

"How dare you insult Aphrodite!" Piper yelled.

"I don't care!" Reyna yelled back. "Your stupid mom can just curse me all she wants. But she's NEVER going to break me! NEVER! And Jason will NEVER be yours! Just 'cause he doesn't remember his past doesn't mean he loves you!"

"You're just jealous," Piper snapped.

Reyna growled and kicked Piper in the stomach. Piper doubled over and gasped for breath.

"Shut the hell up and get out of my face," Reyna said furiously. "And don't you ever forget that Jason Grace is mine. He was mine a year ago and still is. And he will be."

You and I were friends from outer space
Afraid to let go

"Jason," Reyna pleaded. "We need to talk."

He snorted. "Oh yeah. So you can punch me in the face again and yell at me for not remembering you?"

"No," she insisted. "I just…" Her eyes stung, and before she could stop herself she was kneeling in the dirt and sobbing like the world had ended and it was all her fault.

The only two who understood this place

And as far as we know

His eyes widened. "No, Reyna! I'm sorry! Don't cry."

This ain't goodbye
Oh no, this ain't goodbye

"Don't cry." He knelt beside her.

And then her shoulders were shaking. She covered her face, sides heaving.
"Reyna?"

She burst out laughing. "Oh gods, this is so clichéd!"

This ain't goodbye, oh no this ain't goodbye
This ain't goodbye

Jason was taken aback. "You're laughing? What on earth for?"

"Venus got to me after all, huh?" Reyna laughed. "I knew I should've joined the Hunters of Diana long ago."

It's just the way love goes
But where's that woman now, to keep away the cold, oh no?

They shared a smile, the first one since Jason had left. Reyna leaned forward at the same time Jason did. But they hesitated. This wasn't the time or place. It would just make everything more fragile.

This ain't goodbye

"I have to go," Reyna said abruptly and left.

"Yeah. Uh, me too." Jason turned tail and fled.

This isn't where the story ends

As Reyna walked away, a stupid smile slapped on her face, she thought that maybe they weren't doomed after all.

But I know you can't be mine

That small seed of hope quickly died, however. As long as Venus was the one unfolding the tale, there was only one way their story would end.

Like the way you've always been

"Reyna…" Jason had began once the battle against Krios was fought and won.

"Yes?" She was smiling slightly, finding it funny that he was so scared to face her when he'd just defeated a Titan.

"Um, I was wondering…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Do you want to, you know, go to the dance tomorrow with me?"

"Well…" She loved giving him a hard time. "Why not?" Then they'd kissed, their first real kiss, even though it was right in front of the Legions. Demigods cheered, and Hazel had shouted, "It's about time, you two!"

This ain't goodbye

R&R? Please? :D

-Raven