𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 - jason grace

INTERLUDE: JASON GRACE

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐒 to the universe – things that, although unsaid, were true. Some of them were simple, others rolled off the tongue as complex as poetry. The sun is a star, the sky is blue, and Jason Grace is completely and totally in love with Maia Ramírez.

Loving Maia was like breathing air, it was something so natural, Jason didn't need to think about doing it. Even with his memories gone, he never once forgot the feeling of loving her. Even when he woke up in a school bus in the middle of nowhere, holding some unknown girl's hand, sitting with a group of people who claimed to know him, to be his best friends. Jason knew. He knew that it was wrong, that whatever was going on wasn't right. He knew that, even though he barely remembered his own name, he wasn't where he was supposed to be. He knew, because she wasn't there.

Even when he woke up an amnesiac, she stayed constant in his life. Images of a beautiful blonde girl laughing, rolling her eyes at him. Flashes of them dancing in the rain. Fragments of memories, never complete, that didn't at all give him an idea of who he was. But they all had something in common – her.

It wasn't until he finally got his memories back that he knew everything, but he had never once forgotten her. Not completely, at least.

Her name had kept him up at night – a haunting sound that echoed through his mind. He'd often sit up at night, thinking of it. Maia. It sounded even better when he said it out loud, like he'd said it a thousand times before. And he'd say it a thousand times again, just to see that smile he'd dreamt about for months.

When he remembered who he was, he'd remembered it all. How she'd resented him for being "perfect", how, after bugging her for weeks, she'd finally admitted he wasn't the world's most annoying twelve year old. He remembered getting to know her, walking around New Rome together. Hiding from Octavian. He remembered listening to Maia talk about her home, her culture, her music. How she missed it. How she'd wanted to take Jason there. How brightly she'd smiled when he said he loved that idea.

He remembered their almost kiss. Gods, he wished he could forget. Not because the memory disgusted him, quite the opposite actually. The memory was like a curse, constantly teasing him, reminding him of what almost happened, and what could happen, if he played his cards right. It had been driving him insane, taking over his thoughts, making everything turn into a "what if".

He remembered it all: the moments that led up to who they were now – Jason and Maia.

As he stood by the railing of the Argo II, Jason looked up at the stars. Jason had always loved the stars, they'd reminded him of who he was, and who he could be. A son of Jupiter, where the sky was his domain, but where the stars were still out of his reach. He had a long way to go, but he was fine with that.

Jason probably would've spent the rest of the night alone, thinking about Maia, wondering what had happened at Camp Jupiter in his absence, but the voice of Cassie Walker broke him out of his trance.

"Well, isn't this depressing?" She said, coming up to stand next to him.

"Hi, Cassie."

"Hey loverboy, what's got you so down?"

"Oh, you know," he said, "just, thinking about the prophecy. And stuff."

"And stuff, huh? I hate stuff. It's the worst." Jason laughed.

"You two seem awfully energetic for it to be this late, you know."

"Hi, Piper," Jason said.

The daughter of Aphrodite wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist, leaning her head on her shoulder.