𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 || 𝐥𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧

5: arena

evelynn hadn't planned on sleeping in until noon. why her head counselor hadn't woken her up for breakfast was beyond her (oliver, trying to be a good brother, had told their half-sister not to wake evelynn since she was having a hard time). groggily rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, evelynn began her morning routine with an unusual sense of calm. she took her time heading to the cabin bathrooms for a short shower, changing into that dreadful camp t-shirt (she thought high visibility was never a good enough excuse for choosing orange), and peacefully brushing her hair in front of the fogged-up mirror.

it wasn't until she returned to her bed and happened to glance down at the foot of it that she saw one of luke's sweatshirts messily tossed on the floor. panic surged through her, and she hurriedly laced up her shoes. with one last glance in the mirror on her bedside table, she paced toward the cabin door, her heart beating significantly faster than before.

once she found herself in the main campgrounds, various demigods strolling about on their free time, evelynn paused to think about where she might find luke. she remembered their shared schedule, which she had neglected so much (she thought it was a coincidence, unaware that mr. d had assigned luke a month of extra chores to align his schedule with hers), and recalled they should be at swords training. 

her palms growing sweaty, evelynn picked up her pace toward the arena. she halted abruptly when she spotted luke's armored figure, guiding a younger apollo demigod through fixing his fighting posture. letting out a shaky breath, evelynn hesitantly stepped closer to the pair, carefully dodging the apollo camper's clumsily wielded sword before quietly clearing her throat.

"eve?" luke's grip on his practice sword faltered, the blade almost slipping from his fingers before he managed to catch it just before it hit the floor. he met her eyes—almost reluctantly—before slowly removing his helmet. the anxious gulp that caused his adam's apple to bob was obvious to everyone around.

"hey," evelynn muttered, nervously twisting a strand of her hair. "can we talk?"

luke offered a sheepish, apologetic smile, though his dark eyes conveyed a mix of longing and fear that evelynn couldn't quite decipher. "i'm kind of in the middle of something, love."

evelynn hated how that nickname still made her heart flutter, even when she worried their relationship was hanging by a thread. "it's really important," she insisted, her voice trembling slightly.

luke knew this moment was inevitable. he couldn't avoid telling his girlfriend that he was working with kronos forever; they needed her on their side, after all. but he hadn't expected it to come so soon. he supposed that missing that night at the boulder must have tipped evelynn off.

"okay," he finally replied after letting out a resigned sigh. patting the apollo camper firmly on the back, luke reassured him that they would make up for the lost training time another day. he began to shed his armor, each piece falling away like a layer of his defenses.

as luke discarded his gear, evelynn's mind raced, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and determination. she had to know the truth, no matter how painful it might be. luke's dark eyes met hers again, and for a brief moment, she saw a flicker of the boy she had fallen in love with. but she also saw the weight of secrets and the possible burden of something more.

"let's go somewhere private," luke suggested, his voice barely above a whisper. evelynn nodded, leading him away from the training arena and back toward the nyx cabin, her pulse quickening with every step.

once inside the empty building, evelynn gently shut the door behind them, taking a deep breath before facing luke. "are you okay?"

luke let out a short, incredulous laugh. "what?"