Ares

Chapter 9 || Holding on for dear life.

"But now that I'm broken, now that you know it, caught up in a moment. Can you see inside?"

— Jet Black Heart, 5SOS

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Aphrodite adjusted her shirt so the v-neck was lower, giving her ample cleavage the due diligence it so rightly deserved. "Don't you know it's poor manners not to call a girl back?"

The coyness in her voice irritated the shit out of him. He glanced behind her to the parking lot basking in an orange glow from the spattering of tall lights, terrified Grace could show up for that last kiss at any second. This wasn't a game. It was all he could do to keep from slamming the door in her smug little face.

"What are you doing here?" His bluntness produced a frown upon her face that gave him a glint of satisfaction. "How did you find me?"

Aphrodite pressed her lips together. "Glad to see you, too, Ares."

"I'm seeing someone now," he blurted, deciding this was no time for kid gloves. "And this," he said, using his index fingers to circle the plot of land she was currently invading, "isn't cool."

Her eyes welled with tears. "I'm pregnant."

His pulse pounded, making it difficult to think. Her face blurred with a wooziness washing over him like a nest of hornets. He swayed in his stance, his heart beating out of rhythm. "What?"

That's damn impossible. But the time frame was right, even though he'd been in each for so long, in Olympus it had only been near a month. And Aphrodite wouldn't come to him unless it was serious.

She replied with a somber nod, blinking a lone tear down her tanned cheek. "I just wanted you to know," she said softly, forcing a smile. "I thought you deserved that much."

He cringed. He didn't deserve any of this, especially now. He took another quick look over her shoulder, unable to shake the feeling that Grace was watching everything from inside her car. "Come on in."

She smiled and stepped inside, dusting him with a potent dose of a sweet fruit smelling perfume that smothered what was left of Grace's scent. He closed the door and locked it. "Have a seat," he said, drawing the blinds and trying his best not to sound rude.

"That's why I've been calling you," Aphrodite said matter-of-factly, sinking into the armchair that suddenly wasn't as bright as it was two minutes ago. "I saw a doctor of Olympus this past week and...I'm pregnant."

He stood over her with his hands on his hips and his mouth collecting flies, the taken aback silence making his ears ring. "What makes you think it's mine? I mean, I used protection."

She shook her head fervidly, spilling more tears down her face. "We're Gods. Ares. They don't always work for us, you know that."

It was true. Protection always worked with humans and Gods, no matter what. But with a God? there were risks.

The crushing blow drove the air from his lungs like a sledgehammer to the gut. White specks floated across his vision as the room twirled around him. He plopped down onto the couch before he could fall. She was lying. Had to be. He had used a condom. One Zeus gave himself. "What?" he repeated, at a loss for words.

She wiped tears away with her hands. "I'm so sorry to spring this on you, Ares. It took me a few days to even know what to do and I'm still not sure." The dam gave under pressure, unleashing salty rivers down her face. "I'm so sorry," she cried, her breath hitching in wheezy gaits. "I'm just scared."