blood runs red ✓

XXII

'fall seven times, stand up eight'

- unknown

Ares

Ares swallowed what happened to be almost his ninth or tenth shot. For alcohol, he was a slave to it; because of it, he was just barely still in one piece and barely managing to keep his emotions intact.

His history with abusing substances was a secret bound to him. A few people were told and a few people witnessed it at its worst: one being Sean.

Ares' body became almost immune to the poison he fed it with. The boxer had started drinking from the young age of 18, heavily. The passing of his mother triggered that reaction, his whole life he trained to be the perfect boxer for her- but what was the point if she was no longer by his side?

He managed to sober up for his pleading sister, but in his mind: alcohol or no alcohol, it made no difference towards his actions. He was still troublesome and felt as if he had to get revenge towards the world; he was insanely aggressive in fights and insanely aggressive in person. He was lost.

He was also lost in thought and failed to realise the presence of his father beside him.

"My boy, it's good to see you." Leonardo grabbed a drink and took a seat besides Ares.

"Fuck's sake." Ares muttered underneath his breath whilst glancing at the older man.

He had noticed his dad talking to his rival, in which he decided to ignore the man all evening, up until now.

"You were talking to The Ravager." Ares mocked his name. "Why?"

Leonardo rocked forwards for a minute and stared plainly at his son.

"Well I don't see why not?" He questioned. "The man is very successful and is great at what he does."

Ares scoffed.

"That's a joke, right?" He shook his head.

"Why, I'm afraid not." The older man looked slightly stern.

The boxer laughed and sighed.

"Yeah, successful in coming second place constantly. What the fuck do you need from me anyway?"

"I came to remind you on how it is my birthday next Saturday. I was planning to send an invite over but seeing you here only managed to make things easier." Leonardo chuckled.

Ares knew where the man was going with this and he knew that at all cost he would refuse. Every second he spent around his father, he felt like tearing out his eyes and ripping his ears off his head. He despised the man, and didn't bother hiding it. Why should he? 

"It will be a very enclosed dinner. Only a few of my very trusted business partners and family; your grandparents for instance and my brothers."

His father had been invisible to him his whole life and now the man wanted to introduce the rest of Ares' hidden family to him. Pathetic.

"Bring someone along if you must." The older man rolled his eyes.

Leonardo could very easily see the disgust on Ares' face. He placed his feet onto the ground and turned to walk away.

"Oh and by the way, there was no invitation. You're on my guest list and you are expected to arrive. If not, you can kiss the next season of matches goodbye."

Of course there was a fucking twist, for Ares there was always a twist. The last thing he needed was to attend a fake dinner full of fake people who would pretend to care for him. Filled with stupid people related to his stupid absent father who never showed up. He couldn't care less for a man he didn't know, let alone the man's family.

He watched his father walk away in the distance. The place was fancy and insanely divine, packed with only the most prestigious people and their plus ones. With Ares' violent reputation it was almost strange that we was invited to such events; but thanks to his father he was, and his father was going to use that fact against him for life.

There he was. The younger man stood with his hands in his pockets awkwardly besides Sean. He was always beside Sean. August looked as if he didn't know what to do with himself, he was introduced to a few people and even so rarely said anything. It was amusing to watch.

The younger man finally noticed Ares' lustful eyes staring directly at him. It felt like the first time the two locked eyes at the finale after party.

Ares felt a dying urge to approach August. He was unsure if it was because he wanted to speak to him or if he wanted to piss Sean off.

His plans were completely interrupted when Sean dragged the boy off towards the bathroom, his grip firm. Ares couldn't help but wonder what the two were getting up to. All kinds of scenarios appeared in his mind, all sexual.

Whore.

His eyes were locked towards the doors of the men's room. It was as if he was counting every second that passed, waiting for August to walk out. He counted a lot of fucking seconds.

The stupidity of the situation got to his mind. He could be talking to beautiful women or drowning himself in more drinks, and yet he bores himself waiting for someone he couldn't really care less for.

Something however did catch his eye: Dawn. She was walking right into the men's room and stayed for a short time before she finally left.

Her heels clicked against the ground; the sound gradually getting louder until she stood right above Ares' drunken body.

Ares stared up at her. "Enjoy taking a piss in the men's room?" He teased. "Don't worry, I'm sure you fit right in."

She rolled her eyes.

"Ares take me home." Dawn kissed her teeth.

Ares was flimsy. He was like a child.

"Aren't you bossy?" He laughed to himself. "I gotta get out of here too; let me grab one more drink then I'll drive you home."

Dawn scoffed at the state of him.

"Never fucking mind. You're out of your fucking mind, I'm not trying to die tonight." She sounded exhausted. "Look I'm getting us an uber Ares, stay with me tonight."

And so he did.