"OKAY, SO I KNOW YOUR party is still a month away, but I was in New Rome with Hazel and ... ," Philomena trailed off as she walked to the Colosseum with Jason.
"Sounds fun, but what about the 'and'?" Jason asked. He observed Philomena as she blushed, one hand fiddling with the friendship bracelet Hazel had made her, the other one interlocked with Jason's.
Their relationship, or well, whatever you wanted to call it, was complicated to say the least. Or rather, they were okay but to others it was complicated to understand what was going on between the pair.
After the quick peck they had shared some time ago, they had never kissed again, well on the lips at least. Occasionally they would share kisses on the cheek, forehead and so on but never on the lips.
The pair had agreed to keep a low profile and just test out the waters of dating before they would start kissing and diving head-deep into a relationship that could possibly ruin their friendship.
So they were taking things slow, one step at a time. Their priority was getting to know the other deeper, what they liked and didn't like, what they were comfortable with and so on.
Until now, they had discovered that they both didn't feel comfortable with PDA, but still found the feeling of the other one touching them comforting, so they held hands whenever they could, relishing in the comfort of the other.
"I'm glad you're asking," Philomena exclaimed happily and got out a little package from her coat's pocket. "I really wanted to give this to you on your 'birthday'," she drew quote marks in the air, "But you know, I wanna see your reaction now."
While he unwrapped the packaging, Philomena began to blabber on, the words quickly flowing out of her mouth, "If you don't like it, just say so and I'll get you something else and really, you have to be honest with me, otherwise I'll break up with you. Wait, can I even break up with you, if we're not really a couple?"
She was interrupted by his lips on hers. The same tingling sensation went through her body as it had that time in the cafe and Philomena could do nothing but reciprocate the kiss and deepen it.
"Philo, I love it," Jason whispered in between kisses. His voice low before he connected their lips again.
"You know, there are kids present, right?" Reyna asked from beside them; she really had a knack for appearing out of thin air and in the worst moments. Her hand was lifted to cover Hazel's eyes.
Jason and Philomena parted and took a quick step away from one another, their cheeks red as they looked down at the floor.
Philomena cleared her throat, while Jason just looked at the golden ring he had just put on his hand, his fingers immediately going to nervously fiddle with the silver band of stars that was there for just this purpose, to calm his nerves.
"And you know that it's not polite to just jump onto a happy couple like that?" Philomena retorted while Jason was distracted by the ring.
Hazel took off Reyna's hand and looked at the couple, "If we hadn't stopped you, you two would have swallowed each other's tongues right here and in broad daylight at that."
Philomena's mouth fell open. Hazel was just a fourteen year old girl, she hadn't known that she had such a side. "Oh, shut up, Hazel, we're going to train now, see you later," was all she said before she dragged Jason off with her, her ears and face bright red.
Okay, everything had gone wrong.
It was now 10 p.m. and only Philomena, Reyna and Hazel were left behind to look at the untouched popcorn and the ending credits of 'Barbie: Princess Charm School' were playing.
Now were it any other day, she would be happy and feel good but not today, not after Jason hadn't showed up like he promised he would.
She had put so much effort into this little watchparty and Jason didn't even bother showing up? And just after he had kissed her and asked her to officially be his girlfriend? Yeah, no, Philomena was boiling with anger.
If Jason dared to show his face again, she would use him as a punching bag.
But it was strange, he had even told her that he was looking forward to this, never having done anything like watching a movie with friends (and his new girlfriend), so why hadn't he shown up?
"Do you think something happened to him?" Philomena asked Reyna and Hazel, as they sat on the makeshift couch, her face resting on her hands.
"I don't know, 'Mena, how about we go look for him?" Reyna suggested, while Hazel nodded encouragingly.
"Yeah, I'm sure we'll find him and then we'll beat him to a pulp for not showing up," Hazel agreed and stood up, ready to search the whole camp for their missing praetor, her sleeves already rolled up to get revenge on the boy for having disappointed her friend.
The three girls searched throughout the whole night for Jason, but to no avail and when it finally dawned, they went to bed, just to be awoken a few hours later by the other legionnaires who had also noticed the absence of their praetor.
The whole of Camp Jupiter spent the next two days in search for their praetor but it was useless. They had searched the grounds multiple times but there was no trace of Jason Grace, son of Jupiter and praetor of the twelfth legion.
On the third day, the legionnaires stopped and accepted their fate, listening to Octavian who talked on and on about this being the will of the gods and him having to be promoted to praetor and whatnot (listening to him, Philomena remembered all the torture methods she had been thaught some years ago in camp and she wondered how badly she would be punished if she were to use them on him).
Reyna was having none of that and said that they would need to wait for at least six months to confirm that Jason, the hero who had saved so many lives throughout the war, was dead. Until then there would be no election for a new praetor.
Philomena wanted to go outside and search for clues on Jason's whereabouts but the Senate didn't permit a search of this kind.
Jason was a legionnaire and praetor. If he had been abducted or anything of the kind, he would need to return on his own, or he wouldn't be considered worthy of his position.
Listening to these words, Philomena just wanted to spit Octavian and the rest of those stuck up people in the face. Jason was only sixteen or seventeen (nobody really knew); before he was a son of Jupiter or a soldier of Rome, he was a human, a teenager who deserved to be rescued, not be left on his own to survive, or ... well, die.
Philomena hated this place and the only thing that helped her cope was her friendship with Reyna and Hazel and her swordsmanship training which improved rapidly as she fought every day in the arena to vent her anger.
HOPE speaks!
after a (long ass) break I'm hopefully back, but please don't be mad if not because school just started like three weeks ago and I already had like 4 test and oral exams and now volleyball season is also starting so ... go me!
anway, Jason's gone and I've thankfully gotten a hold of an English version of Son of Neptune and have been re-reading it, so be ready for more angsty and fun chapters :)
as always, love you lots <3
YOU ARE READING
ALEA IACTA EST ; GRACE
Fanfiction"What the actual f*ck is going on?" - Philomena Yıldırım, most of the time . . . IN WHICH . . . Philomena is just another demigod in Camp Jupiter and all she wants to do is have some peaceful years in the legion before settling down in the ci...
