Ares

Chapter 30 || I'm not giving up, I still want it all.

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"And my hopes, they are high, I must keep them small."
- Fools, {covered} by JungKook and Rap Monster.

Ares let himself in without knocking and found Aphrodite in the kitchen, wearing designer jeans and leopard skin flats. Her purse and car keys sat on the counter, ready to go, while a small flat screen in the corner aired a rerun of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Aphrodite slowly lowered a water bottle from her lips, the fridge door wide open. "I didn't think you would come." A bright smile claimed her face. "But I'm glad you did. I was hoping you would change your mind."

Ares let out an irritated sigh. "You just don't get it do you?"

"Get what?" she said, capping the bottle and putting it back in the fridge.

Ares ran a hand through his slicked-back hair. "I don't love you and I never will." He gestured to a nearby wall. "Here's the writing and here's the wall."

Her smile faded. "That will change when..."

"That will never change, Aphrodite! I love Grace! Not you and your little fake baby!"

She stepped in front of him and cocked her hand back but Ares caught her wrist before her open palm could sting his cheek and turn it red. She gritted her teeth, glaring up at him. "Let. Me. Go."

"Did you know about the health inspection?" he asked softly, holding Aphrodite's arm in the air.

They held each other's heated glare for another moment before Aphrodite ripped her hand away.

"What health inspection?"

Ares laughed. "Man, you're a good liar. You know that? You called Zeus after I left last night, and when you call Zeus, bad things happen." He pointed an accusatory finger at her and set his jaw. "This is your fault."

Aphrodite snatched her cell from her purse, her ponytail flying through the air behind her. "Obviously, you're not feeling well. I'll tell father we'll take a rain check."

He let her dial and grabbed a beer from the fridge. "I'm going with or without you."

She stopped punching the screen.

"Your dad and Fly need to be stopped." He stepped closer and Aphrodite backed into the breakfast bar, fear blanketing her face. "This whole thing is over," he said gravely. "This house, you, me, all of it ends tonight."

She slipped out around him. "Are you high? You're not thinking clearly!"

"Oh, I'm thinking clearly. For the first time in a while, Aphrodite, I'm finally thinking clearly! I should've never let Zeus con me into this bullshit. I should've stood my ground regardless of the consequences."

"Ares," she said, attempting to keep her emotions in check. "Father is trying to make up for his shortcomings."

"Fuck that!" Ares shouted, his face turning red. "Nothing is worth this!"

She backed into the stainless steel fridge, her glassy eyes shimmering in the light. "And what about the baby, Ares? Is the baby not worth it either?"

"You mean the baby we don't even know is mine? That baby?"

"It is your baby, Ares!" Aphrodite blurted, bursting into tears and hiding behind her hands.

"Is it, Aphrodite?" he said, coming closer, the unopened beer bottle hanging at his side. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she blubbered, quivering in his shadow. "Of course I am!"

He slammed a palm into the tall appliance, making it rock on its hind to legs. "Are you one hundred percent sure?" he yelled, towering over her.

Tears streamed down Aphrodite's cheeks. She refused to meet his piercing glower.

Ares lowered his voice. "You better start telling the truth, Aphrodite, and I mean right now, or things are going to start getting messy for your candidate father in a hurry, and that's a promise."

"Oh yeah? And what're you going to do? Go over and beat him up again? Vote against him? Good for you, Ares!"

"As a matter of fact..." He trailed off and took a calming breath, refusing to let her get him off topic. "I'm going to ask you one more time... Are you one hundred percent sure that baby is mine?"

The TV's low volume serenaded the clammy silence enveloping them like a damp fog. No one moved. No one made a sound.

"Just tell me the truth," he whispered, holding his breath, afraid to breathe. "For once in your life."

She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling, her eyes pleading with him to stop, to just let it go.

"Tell me the truth!"

"I don't know," she said so faintly Ares barely heard her despite being less than six inches from her face.

He stared down at her, precious breath evacuating his lungs with the heavy-handed blow to the gut. "You don't know what?"

"I don't know! Okay?"

His mind swirled with relief and anger, making him lightheaded and uncertain if he was dreaming or not. Ares pushed off the fridge, reclaiming every bit of his six foot four inch frame, and turned his back on Aphrodite.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, clasping her hands together and holding them to her heart like something precious.

He stared blankly out a window over the sink, his relief spilling into the night. "Me too."

"Ares, please..."

He whirled on his heels and threw the beer bottle into the small flat screen on the counter. Plastic shards and glass burst into the air with the ear shattering collision, raining down around their feet. "I knew it!" He rested both hands on the counter like he might pass out and took a moment to chase his breath. "I fucking knew it," he whispered, turning to face her. "Who else was there? And when?"

Aphrodite took a ginger step toward him, smearing mascara across her face. "There was a guy...the night before you."

Ares squeezed his eyes shut until he saw white spots, grimacing with the revelation. "And?"

"And...another guy the weekend after."

A disgusted laugh fluttered from his mouth. "Why?" he asked weakly. "Why did you do this me?"

She looked back at him through sad eyes. "Because the other guys were jerks and you...weren't."

His chest deflated as a profound sigh stormed past his lips.

"I'm sorry, Ares, but I didn't know what else to do. I didn't remember their names or have their numbers." She came closer, careful not to step on any of the jagged shards littering the floor. "I was scared. Father is running for the ruler of Olympus and I'm scared. What else do you want me to say?" She stopped in front of him and softened her tone. "But that doesn't mean it's not your child," she whispered, placing a tender hand on his chest. "It could be."

He shook his head, anger hardening his face. "You're pathetic," he muttered, squeezing around her and heading for the front door. "Let's go."