ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

50.5

THE NEXT DAY, ever looming closer to the day she was leaving, Katerina woke up to the sound of her ringtone.

She didn't even bother looking at the time before she picked up. "Yeah?" she asked. "JuJu, I swear to god, if you're hungover and stuck in a sewer somewhere—"

"I wasn't aware you or anyone called me JuJu," a familiar voice said on the other line. "And the last time I was in a sewer was Chicago nine-ten years ago."

"Chicago?" she repeated. "You're lucky. I've had to go to multiple. Including saving Jules from one. Or two."

"I figured," Jason said, and she swore she could hear a smile in his voice. Maybe she was hallucinating it, though. "Piper's busy today, but can I come over? I made breakfast."

"Fucking deal," she agreed immediately, because she couldn't cook for shit. She probably had to eat the rest of the food in her fridge, but oh well. She'd have Jules over or something. She'd eat all her food for her.

"Well, I'll be over soon," said Jason. "See you then."

Katerina resisted the urge to giggle like a fucking teenager. "Bye, milaya."

She hung up immediately after giving him the nickname and nearly threw her phone at the wall. Unfortunately, then she'd either have to rush out and buy a new phone before he gets to her house or she'd have to explain that she broke her phone. She didn't want to do either, so she huffed and dropped her phone on her nightstand before getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. Well, at least she didn't have to take her daily ambrosia anymore, right?

She shrugged on a baggy t-shirt and jeans, then did her usual routine until the doorbell rang. She rushed out of her bathroom and to her door, opening it to see Jason, who smiled as soon as he saw her, a plate balanced on his hand.

"Hey—" Katerina gasped when she saw what was on the plate. "You made me avocado and egg toast?"

"Yes." His smile turned sheepish. "I don't know if it's still your favorite, but . . . yeah."

"It is, thanks," she said quietly as she took the plate from him. "It's just been a while."

She walked over to the island, placing the plate down next to the mini Christmas tree. Jason came in and closed the door behind him, flicking the lock closed.

"Have you not learned how to cook?" he asked, walking over and leaning against the countertop.

"Do you actually know me, Jason?" she rolled her eyes as she took the cling wrap off of the plate, smiling at the familiar smell of the bread and the avocados and the eggs. "I'm a nepo baby who was either cooked for by a chef all my life or constantly traveling and going out."

He sent her an unimpressed look. "Rina."

She shrugged. "I mean, sometimes while we're in a place for a while, Jules will cook. And when I visit Bumblebee, he always makes me toast." She picked up a piece of toast and bit into it, humming contentedly. Was it just her, or did it taste better? "But honestly, I never thought I needed to know how to. I thought I'd be living at home my entire life with a chef to cook for me. Or at . . . at camp, where they have those plates and the auras."

Katerina didn't mention the unspoken: that all of that was gone now, because of her, and because of the breakup.

Jason didn't mention it either. "Do you want me to teach you?"

"Nah," she said. "I love restaurants too much to learn how to do the bare minimum. Besides, I can just depend on you, right?"

He rolled his eyes, but he didn't say no. "And what do you bring to the table?"