The Lonely Hearts Club

18/ cupid and psyche

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY."

Roman is seated at the bench as she approaches him. The morning mist clings to him gently as droplets of water from the river wet the shore. The sun shines brightly behind him, catching him at an angle that his hair glows golden.

For a moment, her breath caught in her throat. She was no artist, but if she could draw, this was how she would want to capture him- in this moment.

"How did you know I was here?" He whispers hoarsely.

"You told me."

Roman rested his head on her shoulder, strangely sentimental that night.

"Tell me a story." She said.

"When I was little," He began, humoring her, "my mom used to bring me to the forest preserve by my house. I hated all the mosquitoes and bugs, but we found a little part of the forest by a river."

"I was small then, it always seemed like I stepped into a magical place whenever I went to that secluded place. Like I found my way to Narnia with my mom by my side." He continued.

"We stopped going there that frequently, but we still went on my birthday. And then, she left, and we stopped going at all." He sighed, brushing his hair away from his eyes, "It's so stupid, but on my birthday, I still go, just to see if she remembers. But she never shows up."

Verona didn't say anything. She just looked at him with sad eyes. There was nothing for her to say, no comforting words that could take away the pain piercing his heart.

"That was a long time ago." Roman said quietly, "I'm surprised you remembered."

"How could I forget?" She asked gently.

He had been crying. She had always been able to read Roman particularly well. His voice was hoarse, and she could see his cheeks were pink with drying tear stains. Her heart ached for him, and she wished she could take away the sorrow pricking at his heart.

"My mom forgot, too. She's probably off seeing the world, found a new family, or whatever." He said bitterly.

"Then why do you still come here?"

He didn't answer her question, just staring into the river.

"I liked it here when I was little because it reminded me of my favorite Greek myth." He said slowly, "I always thought this part of the river could be the part where the West Wind carried away Psyche or that their palace could be just across the riverbank."

"Tell me the story. The story of your favorite Greek myth."

He shook his head, "I don't tell stories anymore. And you know the story anyways."

"Your mom was an English professor, right?"

"She told me all my stories. There's no story worth telling anymore." He shrugged.

"Tell me anyways. I want to hear how you tell it." She coaxed.

He sighed, "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl. Her name was Psyche, and she was so lovely that the goddess Aphrodite became jealous of her. Aphrodite sent her son Cupid, the god of love, to make Psyche fall in love with something hideous. But Cupid fell in love with Psyche and took her to be his bride. "

"But Psyche was not allowed to gaze upon the face of her husband. Her envious sisters shamed her and convinced her to look upon his face. So when he was sleeping at night, she went into his room with a lamp and gazed upon his beautiful but terrible face. She accidentally dropped oil from the lamp upon him and woke him."

"He ran away, and Psyche began to search for him, wandering the earth. But her journey was hard because the goddess Aphrodite would not let any of the other gods and goddesses help her. So Psyche realized that she had to serve Aphrodite herself."

"But Aphrodite sent her on errands that were long and hard. She gloated that Psyche was under her control. But many of the gods and living creatures took pity on her and helped her. Zeus himself, the king of the gods, sent his eagle to help her fight off a dragon for her."

"Finally, her last task was to go to the Underworld and take some of Persephone's beauty for Aphrodite. She was not permitted to speak to anyone in the Underworld, but once she received the box containing the beauty, she grew curious and opened the box."

"What happened after that?" Verona asked.

"She fell into a deep sleep, until Cupid comes looking for her, draws the sleep out of her and puts it back into the box. He brings the box to his mother and presents his case in front of Zeus, who obliges and forbids Aphrodite from opposing Psyche. He gives Psyche ambrosia, the drink of the immortals, and she becomes a goddess so that she and Cupid are now in a marriage of equals."

"Why is that your favorite story?" She asked curiously.

"When I was little, I loved it, because it was a fairy tale to me. A human girl becomes a goddess because of love." He shook his head, "But now, it's a reminder to me. That love is beautiful and terrible like Cupid was. That love is cruel like Aphrodite was to Psyche."

"That's not how I see it."

Roman raised his eyebrows at her.

"Cupid and Psyche show that love is persistent, love is hard-work, and love is a total pain in the butt. But they still got their happily ever after, right?"

Roman smiled slightly, leaning over to ruffle her hair, "Look at you, Rona. My little cynic talking about love?"

Verona shrugged his hand off her, sending him a joking glare, "Maybe I've had a change of heart."

"Has Leo changed you that much?" He asked quietly, all humor disappearing from his face.

Verona's smile faded from her face.

"Not Leo." She said softly, meeting his gaze, "Not him."

Roman looked away.

"Anyways, I'm okay now, so you don't have to stay with me."

"It's your birthday though. You're eighteen." Verona forced a smile, "We can't just not do anything."

"Or we can just pretend it's a normal day."

Verona tilted her head, looking at him curiously, "Why have you never looked for your mom?"

"Scared of what I would find." He admitted.

"Don't be scared." She said, "I'll go with you to find her, if you ever do want to find her."

"Thanks, Rona."

He turned back to gazing out at the river, watching the river flow.

Verona glanced down at her phone, surprised she got reception even this far out.

It was a text from Leo.

Hey :) we still on for the date tonight?

She looked back up at Roman, the sadness etched upon his face. She began typing out her response.

Sorry, something came up. Let's reschedule.

~~~

[A/N: sorry for the really blocky dialogue where Roman was telling the story! I tried to minimize the story, but it still ended up being really long.]