The Forgotten

Chapter seventeen: Last night...

I woke up to a loud knock on my bedroom door. I open my eyes and my forehead starts pounding immediately. I sit up slowly and grab my head, groaning.

"Princess?" I heard Apollo's deep voice as he opened the door and stepped in. I turn to him, squinting my eyes.

"Oww... what happened?" I groaned as he smirked.

"Do you remember anything last night?" I narrowed my eyes, looking down at the ground.

"Well me and Enyo went on a run to Filling's farm bu-" I began but he laughed loudly.

"That's it? You don't remember me carrying you upstairs to your room?" Apollo scoffs and I narrow my eyes at him. I grab my head as the memories all flood in at once.

I stood up and walked over to my armor in the corner, rubbing my eyes as I pulled the chestplate off the mannequin and began strapping it to myself. I had nothing to say to that, but I'm sure my silence made him realize that I, indeed, remembered everything from when I snuck out.

"It doesn't matter...We are going on a run to Yale farm." Apollo says hesitantly as he walks back out of my room. Why did I do that?

I put the rest of my armor on and walk down the steps slowly, holding my helmet in my left arm as I held my head with my right. I make my way outside to the stables and began putting water and food in each stall. Once I was done, I place the bucket back where it was and make my way back outside to see Janus walking up to me. His expression changed when he saw me.

"Goodmorning, Pickpocket, what's wrong?" I ask as he stares down at the ground

"Hello" he said awkwardly as he walked past me towards the stable. I stop in my tracks and crossed my arms, narrowing my eyes at him.

"What happened?" I scoff as he hesitantly turns toward me and sighs. Janus' eyes met mine, as if he were trying to say something without using words. A sudden image jolts into my mind of him kissing me. I grab my head softly and sigh.

"It didn't mean anything. I get it," I look back up at him and nod, but he wasn't looking at me.

"Y-Yeah..." he said quietly and turns around towards the barn without looking at back. I watch as he walks into the barn and veers a sharp right. I sigh and jog after him.

I step in quietly onto the dirt floor and look to the right. Janus was standing several feet away with his forehead pressed against the wall. His eyes were closed and his fists were clench.

"Janus, what's wrong?" I ask him in a drawing voice as I step to him cautiously. He quickly stands up straight and looks over at me.

"I-... hmm," he looked at the ground tapping his foot, debating whether to tell me something or not. Janus looks back up to me with a yearning look on him face. "It didn't mean anything...?" He asks quietly, not looking away from me. I felt my heart sink to the bottom of my chest. What was I supposed to say? I get we were drunk but I didn't expect him to actually mean it. I don't know why, but I feel very stressed.

"Well I-..." I paused, trying to think of the right way to word this. " It di-" I start but Janus cuts me off.

"Your face is turning red," he smirks and I quickly put my hands on my face. I groan uncomfortably as I slowly pull my hands away to see him staring at me with a frown.

"It's Arthur... Isn't it?" Janus starts walking towards me slowly. I feel a knot form in my throat. I tried to say something, but nothing would come out.

"You won't be seeing him on good terms again... You also won't ever have what you had with him," Janus stops, just inches away. "You won't ever feel the touch of his lips again." He scoffs as I cross my arms tightly. Janus' soft eyes narrow into a glare. There was a long moment of silence where we just stared at each other. I could see the anger building up inside of him as he clenched his jaw, realizing I was loyal to Arthur.

"What is he that I'm not?" Janus steps up to me so our bodies were touching. I had seen Janus have his emotions flip in a second, but never like this. I felt like I should run now and readdress this later, but my body wouldn't move and I was frozen in fear. His eyes softened as his hand brushed against my cheek. My breath hitches in my throat as he lowers his face closer to mine, stopping only an inch away. I take a step back into the wall behind me. Janus presses his body up against mine, holding me against the wall with his one arm on my shoulder.

"Back up, Janus," I growl at him in a low voice and he smirks. His breath reeked of alcohol. Janus leans forward and kisses me, running his one hand down my cheek. I shove him off me, but he catches himself several feet away. We glared at each other for a moment, no one saying anything. His eyes soften as he puts his head in his hands.

"S-sorry... I'm sorry," he starts back away and I clench my jaw uneasily. He kept backing up until he hit the wall, leaning back against it and looking up at the ceiling. "God, I don't even know what to say..." he chuckles uneasily.

"You're still my best friend if you still want to be, I just think you're not thinking clearly right now-" I say slowly and he inhales deeply.

"No, Yeah you're right," he groans out, finally looking down at me with an unsure grin.

I walk up to him, holding out my hand and he hesitantly grabs it, shaking it firmly. I stare up at him intensely and he doesn't look away.

"You may be right about the whole Arthur thing... But don't think I will ever give up on what me and him had..." I clench my jaw and he nods slowly, looking away.

"I have a story for you... If you'll listen?" he looks back to me with an uneasy look in his eye and I nod.