Fancy meeting you here

Tiberia was doing her usual morning routine: a workout in the gym followed by swimming a mile or two in the baths. She split the water with her arms, a rush in her ears. Above her, the tiles of the vaulted ceiling told the stories of gods and heroes. She focused on them in an attempt to distract herself from the chaos in her head. How could she have done this? She was such an idiot! Now her friendship with Kyungsuk was going to be either awkward or completely ruined. Not to mention, what if word of this reached her parents? They were generally accepting of LGBT things, but not necessarily when it came to their own kids. Gods of Olympus, she had royally fcked up.

"Fancy meeting you here," she heard as she stopped at one end, and gave a start.

Sitting on the pools edge sat none other than Kyungsuk, the daughter of Nemesis. The one she had shared a (rather lengthy) make out session with at the Legion alumni party. She had hoped that the events of last night would stay secret, that both of them would just pretend nothing had happened. But that didnt seem to be the case.

"Uh... hey. Salve. Whats up?" she asked, pulling her wet hair back.

"What? Yes, of course I am."

Tiberia said that without thinking, then looked around warily. What if someone was to hear her and spread rumors? She knew she had to come out of the closet eventually, but she wanted to have some control over how and when.

"Look, it's not about that. I... I had a great time. Really, I did." She looked up into Kyungsuk's eyes, almost bringing herself to touch her knee. "But I'm not ready to come out yet and I don't want to lead you on - or ask you to wait. It wouldn't be fair."

"Did you listen to anything I just said?" Tiberia asked. "I can't be with you, or if I am, it would have to be a secret and I wouldn't ask that of you."

She propped her arm up onto the side of the pool, looking up at Kyungsuk. "Do you understand?"

Tiberia wasn't quite ready for the pang of emotions those few sentences unleashed. She felt - elated, terrified, excited, everything at once. The daughter of Nemesis liked her! And... she was okay with a secret relationship?

"Are you sure?" she asked, pulling herself out of the water to sit on the pool's edge, next to her. "I'm very new to all this. I only really admitted it to myself a couple of years ago... and I never..."

Tiberia shook her head. She had an inkling that Decimus, her twin brother, had a rough idea. Her friend Leandra would probably be supportive, despite their falling-out. She had almost told Romulus, her closest friend, but changed her mind at the last moment. Romulus was not a romance-oriented person, so what was the point of confiding in him about this?
She obviously had not told her family. Although gay marriage was legal now, some of the older Roman families - like hers - still weren't on board with it. Especially not when it came to women. Men attracted to men, they could reluctantly okay it under certain circumstances, whereas women... that was completely taboo. She didn't fancy going from legionnaire golden child to black sheep in just one little conversation.

"To be fair," she sighed,"I hadn't really admitted to myself at all. I've been struggling with it for years. When we were at that party, I got tipsy, and... all that struggle disappeared for a while."

Tiberia watched her leave. A feeling of heaviness sunk in her chest. She was doing a big mistake, she knew it, she felt it, but it wasn't until Kyungsuk had gone through the large double doors that she jolted out of her thoughts.

"Hey, wait," she said, pulling herself out of the water. "Wait!"

Without grabbing her towel, she ran after her, her wet feet sliding on the polished tiles.