Athena's Pov

“I don't know what's wrong with dad. He can't just tell me not to go meet you.” Tristan grumbles.

“Don’t get mad about it. He’s saying what makes sense to him.”

“But still Thena, he can't force us away.”

“It's not like he’s against us, Tristan. He just wants me to bond with them until I'm here.”

“He knows you don't like them then isn't it better if I'm there to help you get through it rather than you suffering alone.”

“Honestly… I don't blame him.” I said and massaged my temple to soothe the pain in my head. “Grandpa also wants the same thing. Oliver is his best friend, he's gonna support him on this. They believe if I spend time with the great Konstantinos brothers, they're gonna want me.” I dryly chuckled.

Tristan sighed. “Once you're back home, everything will be fine again. I won't have to stay away from you anymore.”

It felt weird thinking how after just another fourteen days, they'll be gone from my life like they never existed. I'll be at peace again but it hurts to know they will be too.

They'll continue their routine like they used to, not bothering that there's a girl —the result of their mistake— that they have abandoned.

We'll be strangers… yet again.

“I miss you so much.” I mumbled into the phone.

“I miss you more than you can imagine.” He said with sadness. “But don't worry, I'll be there first thing in the morning, with chocolate and a flower.”

Since I started my periods back at eleven years of age, Tristan started bringing me one flower and one chocolate each month and that tradition has continued till this day.

“You’re really the best. I love you, love you, love you.” I kiss the microphone repeatedly for the dramatics. “Thanks for keeping me from killing my arrogant housemates.”

“Didn't know our life was being spared everyday.” I heard a voice from behind me.

I froze and mentally facepalmed myself. It's all my fault. Obviously someone will pick up on the worst part of my conversation if I do it sitting in the backyard at four am in the night.

When I turned around to face the person who wasn't supposed to overhear me. I could die from relief when I saw his calm face. Because I really didn't want an argument on the second day of my periods.

“Can I call you later?” I mumbled to Tristan.

He immediately gets the signal and asks, “Zephyr?” I mumble a ‘no’. “Ares?” I mumble a ‘yes’. “Good luck. Hopefully he didn't hear anything, if he did just lie. I'll be up if you need me.”

“Good night to you too.”

Ares keeps looking at me as I cut the call and put the phone beside me. His eyes were narrowed at me but he wasn't angry. I smiled at him in embarrassment and fiddled with my finger waiting for him to start the conversation.

“What’re you doing here so late?”

“Couldn't sleep.”

“Any reason?”

“Cramps.”

He nods and comes closer. My eyebrows furrowed on their own when he gestured for me to move. I did so without thinking and he sat beside me on the blanket I had laid down on the grass.

“What're you doing?” I asked, weirded out.

“It's called the act of sitting.”

“But why are you-” He cuts me off.

“Hot chocolate?” He offers the cup in his hand.

I frown. “I don't drink from other people’s cups.”

He rolls his eyes. “Wouldn't have offered you if I drank from it.” He forwards the cup towards me again and I hold it so it doesn't spill all over me. “Finish it while it's hot.”

“Thanks but-” I tried to politely decline but he didn't let me complete my sentence yet again.

“Who was it on the phone?”

I knew he was changing the subject but I was in desperate need of something hot to soothe my stomach and I hadn't had anything since dinner so I let it slide.

“Tristan. Why do you ask?” I wrapped my hands around the cup to warm them up and lightly blew on it.

“You were telling him how much you love him and pecking the phone for him, anyone would have interest in such a conversation.”

“Not anyone. Just the nosy type of people.” I chuckled.

His nose wrinkled at my choice of words. “I'm not nosy. I just like to stay updated.”

“Atleast you’ve got the definition right.” I started cackling up at my own silly joke and he gave me a dirty look.

“It wasn't even that funny.”

“Try the definition of funny, I'm damn sure you know that as well but don't get the meaning.”

He rolled his eyes in frustration and gave me time to compose myself. I tried suppressing my giggles as I was the only one laughing but it was so hard because I was for sure on one of my happy mood swings.

I took a sip from the hot chocolate and nearly burned my tongue trying to drink more because it was so good.

“Is this grandpa's recipe?”

“It’s mum's actually. Wanna know something interesting?”

“About coffee or my grandma?”

“Your grandma.” I nod enthusiastically and he speaks. “Mom was quite famous among her peers for how amazing her cooking was. She took quite pride in it and vowed to find a man who can make food just as good as hers.”

“And?” I asked, getting invested in the story.

I love histories —as long as it was people’s and not wars or politics— and my grandparents' love story would obviously be a topic of interest for me.

“But well, she fell for dad. Now she was so worried because she didn't want to admit to everyone that her boyfriend was nothing close to a chef that she wished for. So she-”

“Let me guess! She taught him how to cook and now he owns a restaurant and makes his granddaughter the best food in the world.”

He looked at me and chuckled at my overexcitement. “Correct. He joined a culinary school for her and when she was satisfied with his skills, she finally introduced him as her boyfriend. He had to do a lot of hard work to get her.”

“Grandpa’s cute.” I let out a breathy laugh. “If my partner ever forced me to learn cooking just so they can show it off to other people, I would call for a break up.”

“I guess times were different back then.” He shrugs. “People were more willing to sacrifice and contribute more to their relationship even if the other doesn't.”

I took a long sip of the hot chocolate. “Some things change for the better.”

He nods in agreement and lays down looking at the sky above us. I adjusted to sit right in his line of sight so we could talk as I drank my hot chocolate.

“Highschool romance is cute, right?” He asked and I hummed in agreement. “Do you want that for yourself?”

I considered the question. “It doesn't sound bad but I don't vibe with anyone at school.”

“What about that boy you were just talking to?”

“Tristan?” I chuckled. “Nah, man. He’s like my homie. There's nothing close to romance between us.”

“Does he think the same?”

“Obviously. We grew up together, he knows me well enough to never like me like that.”

“It’s not uncommon to have romantic feelings for your best friend. He has known you since you two were born. Maybe he developed a crush somewhere during that but you didn't realize it.”

My brain stopped processing due to all the unnecessary confusing words thrown at me. I knew it was completely false but his words made me feel weird. I didn't even want to consider the scenario of Tristan falling for me. We could never work as lovers.

“You don't understand. He can't like me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I'm not a nice person.”

“Don’t say that. You are a nice person, Athena.”

My heart warms up at his gentle words and I try to hold myself back from seeing too much into the lines. I should keep reminding my stupid brain that these brothers hate me.

But then why do they have to be kind to me? Why can't they just keep on treating me badly so I'm more eager to leave and would never wanna come back to this hell?

“What he wants is completely different from what I can give him.”

I placed my now empty cup on the grass and laid down beside him as my back pain —complimentary with my periods— gets worse.

“What does he want?”

“Someone who's not a slut.” That's what my brain screamed as an answer and that's what I blurted out.

When I hear a sharp inhale from him, my skin turns red as I realize what I've done. I've indirectly implied that I am a slut. If he had doubts about it before, now he knows it's a fact.

“Sometimes others see the version of you that you're incapable of noticing.” He turned on his side to look at me. “So one’s definition of themselves could be entirely different from how they're perceived by others.”

I met his eyes and felt that his words were genuine. They had the weight I wasn't ready to take on. It was easier to blame myself for my actions and take accountability than cry over how someone else destroyed me.

Calling myself a slut was easier than thinking I might be manipulated into things I didn't originally sign up for. It makes me feel in control. I don't like feeling anyone has a hold over me, my thoughts.

No one can control my life or abandon me whenever they want. I never give anyone the power to leave me because they're never meant to last in the first place.

“Don't be biased with me, Ares. It doesn't suit you.” I chuckled to hide the impact his words had on my mind.

He doesn't say anything to that. He nods and stares back into the darkness. For a few minutes we just stay silent and watch how the clouds move over the lightest touch of moonlight until he breaks the silence.

“If he ever falls for you, what would you do?”

“He won't.”

“It's an if situation.”

“Why do you so desperately want me to get with my best friend?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at him to avoid answering the question brought up.

“I don't want you to get with anyone. It's not your age to think about romance, you should focus on your studies.” I rolled my eyes and he must've seen it which is why he added. “But… When I met him, I felt like he does feel something for you.”

“So you decided to play matchmaker.” I added, displeased.

“No. I was just trying to tell you my opinion on the matter-” I cut him off with a gasp.

“You approve of him!” I accused.

A frown sets on his forehead. “I never said that.”

“But you meant that.”

He shook his head. “I'm just saying he's not that bad.”

“That's your way of approval.” I chuckled.

“Look. Dad likes him so obviously he’s not the worst. Although I want someone better for you… Tristan could work. He’s your age, seems sensible enough and he kinda cares for you too.”

Tristan is perfect. But he isn't the one for me. He deserves someone better. Someone who isn't so fucked up in her head that she'd spread her legs for every man that shows her fake concern.

Ares clears his throat before speaking more clearly. “I know at this age… it's difficult to hold yourself back sometimes and you just… you fall for wrong people. So if you ever find yourself in such a situation, I want you to pick the right option.”

I don't fall for anyone. In fact I never loved the men I was with. I did develop some level of attachment sometimes but it was never enough to be classified as love. Each of them was for some selfish reason of mine. I don't think I can ever truly fall for a man.

“Stop putting things into my head. Even if he ever ever ever; once in a million, falls for me then it would never lead to anything.”

“Why?”

“Because I can't commit to anyone, Ares. I don't want to give out the control I have over my life to someone else.” I sighed. “I guess that's one thing common between the two of us.”

He stayed silent after that and I could feel the level of discomfort I had created between us with my words. For some reason I didn't want tonight to be another horrible memory so I initiated a conversation.

“Why are you here so late?”

“Hades was mad that I don't help out with business —when I'm the one who gets them all the connections they desperately need— so I was reading through some paperwork.”

“That still doesn't explain how you ended up here.” I pointed out.

“I went to the kitchen for some hot chocolate to help me survive through those boring legal terms and on my way back, I saw your bedroom door was open. Asked a guard, he said you were here so I came to see what's up.”

“Out of curiosity.” I added.

“I’m not a nosy person, Thena.” He grumbled.

I chuckled but a strange feeling resurfaced. I knew that I didn't want him to care for me but I don't know why I still wanted him to say he was here because he was worried for me.

We talked for a while about different things from how much he hates Hades’ obsession with business and Zephyr’s with rules. I decided to only speak about safe topics —because I had already messed up enough for the night— so I told him about my favorite songs and how crazy I was for minions when I was young.

My eyes started drooping as I watched the hint of orange light from the sun gracing our surroundings.

“I love watching the sunrise.”

My eyes were already closed and I had even lost the energy to reply back. I felt movement beside me which assumed him turning to look at me.

“Good night, Thena. Don't tell dad you like my hot chocolate more.” It was the last thing I heard before dozing off.

When I woke up I was back in my bed. I didn't know how I got here but I didn't want to ask. I didn't want to burst the bubble I had created for how this played out.

I didn't want the reality check that it was indeed grandpa who put me to bed like he always does. I didn't want to take away any special memory from this mansion but I didn't want to discard this one either.

So I hoped Ares was kind enough to notice I was shivering and to do something about it. And maybe he cared enough to check up on me which is why he was there with me in the garden at four am in the night.