Pat Twice

Chapter 5

Persephone carefully folded the blanket Hades gave her, balled up the tattered shirt she just wearing, and slid out of Hades' room. She followed the smell of food coming from the kitchen to find Hades making fried eggs and bacon.

"I wasn't sure if you were hungry," he said when she appeared in the kitchen. His shirt hung just above her knees. She basically was swimming in it. He smiled to himself and kept cooking.

"I guess I am a little hungry," she replied, putting a hand on her grumbling belly. She watched him as he flipped the eggs. His shoulders relaxed; his face soft. He looks almost carefree. As if today hasn't been a complete nightmare, she thought to herself. Persephone hadn't even noticed how handsome he looks today. Although he wears a suit most days, today he's wearing a suit with his glasses. Something about those glasses take him to a whole new level of scoundrel...

She let her eyes glide down his body, surprised to see his burnt hand still unwrapped. She snapped out of her trance.

"Hades! We need to take care of you," she said anxiously. He held his hand up to inspect the damage.

"Well, I suppose it needs some work," he said casually. Truthfully, he knew that the pain would subside soon. He is a god, they heal quickly. But at the moment the skin still appeared raw.

Persephone walked over to him and took his hand in hers, getting a closer look. She winced and raised her eyes to his.

"Do you have anything I can wrap this with?" He smiled at her concern and nodded.

"I can go get some gauze, but can you finish cooking our food?" She let go of his hand and picked up the spatula.

"You know," he called from the bathroom, "you have some injuries as well. Perhaps I should take care of those for you?" He walked back into the kitchen holding the gauze.

"I do feel a little banged up," she said, gingerly touching the bump on her head. Hades put the gauze down and grabbed a dish towel. He ran it under the water and brought it over to Persephone.

"Do you mind if I... clean you up a bit?" He asked shyly. She's probably going to snatch this out of my hand and claim I'm a scoundrel.

"Would you?" She replied to his response. His eyes widened a little bit.

"Of course," he said smiling. He gently started rubbing at her face and hair where little splashes of ichor ended up.

"Did you get cut?" He asked quietly.

"Oh no I um... I hit Apollo over the head with a bottle of wine. There might be wine on my too," she said quietly.

"Kore... how did this happen to you?" Hades stopped wiping away ichor and held her face in his hands. She closed her eyes, trying to muster the words to tell Hades that this wasn't a lone incident.

"Hades, there's a lot you don't know about me. Big things you don't know about me. I don't want those things to change the way you see me," she whimpered. Hades' felt his heart drop to the floor.

"How could you think that anything would change the way I look at you? You're better than every single god and goddess on Olympus. A better heart than all of them, including me," he responded sadly. Her eyes slowly opened.

"Something happened with Apollo before today. Do you remember when we talked on the phone all night?"

"Yes... and I remember that you were crying because you were homesick. I'm assuming that wasn't the real reason?" Persephone softly shook her head no.

"Before you called me Apollo came into my room that night. He um, he started to kiss me..." her voice drifted off, and she looked away from Hades. He dropped his hands from her face and suddenly felt numb.

"What else did he do?" Hades murmured, taking one of her hands into his. He felt like he knew what was coming.

"He said that he thought I was more mature, that I couldn't turn him down because of how grand he was. So, then we were... intimate," her words caught in her throat, and she felt hot tears sliding down her face again. Hades' grip tightened on her hand.

"I didn't tell him no, I just said okay. I wish I fought him. I could have screamed, ran, something. But I didn't," her head hung low, waiting for Hades to say something. Anything to fill the silence that was weighing down on them.

Hades inhaled deeply through his nose, trying not to lose all control, "If I could kill a god then I would, but I'll just have to find a close second." Persephone's head shot up. Hades' eyes looked murderous, and his face was twisted into a person that Persephone had never seen before.

"Please, Hade. It's okay," she lied, squeezing his hand. His face relaxed, and he looked into her eyes.

"Tell me this Persephone, did he hurt you? Did he make you feel scared and helpless?"

"I mean... yes, he did do all those things. But I didn't want anyone to know because no one should have to save me. I should have been able to save myself, and instead I was useless that night and today," Persephone dropped his hand and moved away from the counter. She wrapped her arms around herself and kept her back to Hades.

"You made the right decision by summoning me today. Today and that night you needed help, and having help is okay. Please, Persephone, let me continue helping you," Hades took a step closer to her, and she slowly turned towards him.

"Eros said that I needed help too," she mumbled, watching their eggs burn.

"You told Eros about this?" Hades asked in a shocked tone.

"I didn't necessarily tell him, rather I showed him. He was able to see what happened when I let him into my head. He said that I was... that Apollo... attacked me. Hurt me. Whatever word you'd like to use. I just can't say it," Persephone walked over to the food, turning off the stove and throwing away the charred remains.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you. My heart aches for you," Hades stood next to Persephone, taking the pan from her and placing it into the sink. He turned towards her and extended his arms, inviting her in for a hug. Her bottom lip quivered, and she melted into his arms. A small sob escaped from her, and she buried her face into Hade's chest.

"I don't know how I let it happen. I feel so stupid, maybe I am just a naïve girl who should go home," her voice was muffled from Hades' suit. He stroked her long hair and rested his cheek on her head.

"You didn't do anything wrong, you're a victim. And you're not naïve, you just believe that all people are good. I admire that quality, but unfortunately some people may take advantage of your heart," She lifted her head away from Hades' chest to look at him.

"You're the only one who has respected me since coming to the city. Everyone else has seen me as a child, but from the start you have spoken to me like an adult. I know that today I've been a mess, so I just want to thank you for everything. You've been the best thing about being away from home," Persephone watched a small smile form on Hades' face. He leaned a little closer to her, his face only a few inches away from hers.

"So, you could say that I'm 0% scoundrel?" He said, making her break out into a smile.

"Perhaps only 10% scoundrel?" He smirked a little and she laughed. He soaked her in, enjoying every moment of holding her in his arms.

"Persephone... I-."

BANG BANG BANG

Persephone jumped and Hades tightly pulled her to him. They stared at the door and then back at one another.

"I'm going to see who that it, stay here," Hades said, clearing his throat. He let her go and straightened his tie. She silently nodded, backing up to hide in the corner of the kitchen.

He took long strides towards the door, fully expecting the worse. He snatched the handle and swung the door open.

"Oh shit," he said under his breath.

"Where the HELL have you been?"

Minthe shook from rage, her hands on her hips and a pile of paperwork sitting by her feet.