blood runs red ✓

LI

'you must learn who is gold and who is gold-plated'

- unknown

Ares

Ares was determined to find out everything he possibly could and get August's mom safe, so that August would finally be able to leave Sean. He wanted to make sure August was safe. He didn't even care about their relationship, no, he only cared about making sure August was free.

Because he'd spent his entire life controlled by someone, held back by a fear or a person, and it wasn't fair. Ares wanted that to change. It had to change.

So the first thing he did was check the video. It was filmed from far away, because the zooming in had made the video was blurry. It was hard to tell who they were, so clearly someone had done this on purpose. The video was meant to expose Ares.

But was it meant to expose August too?

He found multiple versions of the video, and there was one that was edited to be of higher quality, which made Ares' face clearer, but the lighting luckily blocked out most of August's face. All you could see was his hair. 

That could be an issue since they've eaten in public together.

Whatever. The surroundings were clearer, and Ares thanked whoever obsessively edited the video, so he managed to find out where he was. The video was filmed in the Olive Garden's car park, and he'd been recently, which made it easier to figure out when it was filmed.

He remembered the outfit he wore, remembered that he wore it last week with August, so that was convenient. Now he just had to think, who was there that recorded him in his car? 

He was famous and he knew that going out in public often attracted fans, but he wasn't that famous, to have fans stalk him and record him. People were often scared of him because he was a boxer with tattoos which somehow made him terrifying. So someone had to have done this on purpose.

And Ares looked like a regular, slightly attractive person, so if people went up to him, it was to ask for his number. It was rare that someone recognised him. People usually recognised him by his name, like those girls from Brooklyn.

"Did anyone recognise you when you were there?"

"No." Ares said. "I don't think so."

His phone buzzed, and Ares didn't check it. So, Lana did it for him. "Dawn texted you."

Ares looked up immediately. "Dawn?"

"I didn't expect that kind of reaction from you. I thought she'd been getting on your nerves recently?"

"No-" Ares shook his head. "No, she was at the Olive Garden. She was there that day. She said hi to me and looked at August funny, and asked if we were dating. I told her he was a business partner."

"A business partner? Really?"

"I had to think fast. She must've recognised him from the time I first spoke to August... or maybe from some of our matches, or the award ceremony. Maybe a party." 

"I never liked her." Lana said simply. "She's pretty, but she was annoying. Always gave me an off vibe. I honestly think she never got over you."

"I- no, it- she's fine being- I mean we've hooked up a few times but I don't have feelings for her and she doesn't have feelings for me." 

Lana sighed. "You're an idiot. Sex with your ex? Of course she's still hung up on you. There's a reason she still talks to you, and it's not to be friends with you. God, men are dumb."

"You're wrong."

"Take it from a girl who's been in a similar situation. She's still in love with you. She must've taken the video out of jealousy and posted it or sent it to Sean. This was completely on purpose. We just need to prove it."

That night, Ares slept with Dawn again. He didn't want to, but it was the only way he could get her phone. Dawn comforted him for his breakup, which made him all the more suspicious. She offered to sleep with him to distract him, and he agreed.

When she fell asleep, he got into her phone and found a random number in her texts, and she sent the video to that number. He couldn't prove it was Sean she sent it to, but he took a photo of it regardless.

Then he went on her Instagram and found the anonymous account that originally posted the video. She started to stir before he could look for anymore proof, proof that Sean and Dawn had done something related to Andrew. But he had something.

He had to tell August.

He got home that night, finding Lana asleep in the guest room, and woke her up. She wasn't happy to be woken up at midnight, but she stayed awake and listened to what her brother told her. He'd found some proof, and she was incredibly proud of him.

"Get some rest, Ares. We'll talk to August tomorrow."

He didn't sleep that night.

It was ten in the morning when Ares barged into Sean's house and demanded to speak with him. He didn't exactly barge in, but he did bang on the door repeatedly until Sean opened up, August standing next to him tiredly. The first thing Ares noticed was that August's neck was painfully red. 

Ares wanted nothing more but to take August in his arms and drive away with him, which made him feel weird, because he was becoming emotional and sappy, but he couldn't. Instead, he stood tall by himself and threw his accusation around.

"You got his father out of jail and now you're keeping him stuck here, hurting him."

"Me? I'm not doing shit to him. And I have no idea what you mean by his father getting out of jail because of me." Sean defended himself casually.

"You're lying. You're fucking lying."

"If anything, it must've been you." Sean smirked. "You're mad that you got caught being a homewrecker, and that August is still with me so you did some digging about his father, who he probably didn't tell you about, and got him out to have a reason to get him back."

Ares balled his hands into fists. Sean was completely flipping the story. "That makes no sense. You're just explaining what you did. If August never told you about his dad, he would never have stayed. You're blackmailing him into staying."

"You can say all this shit as many times as you like, but it's not true. You should never have known about August's dad." 

Ares was livid. He was trying his very best not to beat the shit out of Sean. He knew doing that in front of August could be potentially terrifying and traumatising, so he refrained from doing so. But he wanted nothing more than to hit the blond in front of him.

"Just fucking wait, Matthews. I'll prove what you did. And he'll finally be away from you."

"August would never leave me, would you?" Sean wrapped an arm around August's waist. "You love me, don't you, sweetheart?"

August shivered uncomfortably, and Ares noticed it. 

"Don't be shy, sweetheart."

"I love Sean." August said reluctantly. "I'd never leave him."

"Exactly. So run along, Cirillo. You're not needed here. Take your accusations and go." 

Ares dug his nails into his palms as he turned around and went back to his car. He wasn't leaving without talking to August. So he drove to the back of their house and waited before texting August.

Sneak out. We need to talk.