One of us is lonely

Chapter 8

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THE CONFRONTATION WITH ARES WOULD BE INEVITABLE. Red was well aware of that, but when he walked into the room she couldn't read from his face whether he was pissed off at her or not. After all, she was the girl that had stolen from him and probably ruined his party with her reckless behavior. He'd every right to be angry with her. But she wasn't quite sure if he was, judging by the clothes on her body - which were probably his - and the room she had slept in that night. It was an act of kindness she had not expected from him and one she didn't deserve either.  But Ares leaned against the doorframe, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his sweats, with that unreadable expression on his face.  

"Finally awake?" He questioned. Red bit down her lip, slowly nodding her head.

"I was just about to leave." She'd decided to just not ask for her stuff back, she'd pick it up another time. Right now she needed to get out of there. The longer she stayed in the room with this guy the more nervous she got, which was a rare thing for Red. Usually, when it came to a confrontation, she'd just not care at all or couldn't be bothered by the other person's presence or opinion, but the situation was a bit different now. She had almost drowned in his backyard and that made that she and he were connected in a strange way. As she stepped forward, Ares pushed himself off the door and grabbed her upper arm as she passed him. He softly pulled her back. 

"Why did you do that?" He had a hint of worry in his eyes and Red didn't like the way he was looking at her, as if she was a little girl in desperate need for his help. She yanked her arm out of his grip and took a step back, increasing the distance between them. 

"Relax, Ares," She clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes at him. "I'd been cooped up with Southsiders the entire evening. I just wanted to have some fun." 

"Fun?" He scoffed. "You could've died, Reed! Why would you risk your life like that? To prove a point?" His words hit her in a way she didn't expect it to.

"Yes..." She breathed out. That was exactly it. To prove that she was not one of them. That she was still the same reckless kid from the North she was two years ago. That she could still steal and get away with it. That she could run faster than most of the guys in her grade. But she wasn't a kid anymore and the Northside hadn't been her home for almost two years. "Did you..." She gazed back up at him, her fingers nervously playing with the hem of her shirt. Her silence made it perfectly clear to Ares what she wanted to ask. Did he get her out of the water? Did he risk his life in order to save hers? 

"I did." He slowly nodded his head and she let out a small sigh. Why him? Why did he have to be a hero? Why couldn't Gabriel have jumped after her? Or literally anyone else? She'd tried so hard not to be a damsel in distress and now she'd brought herself exactly into a situation she didn't want to be in. 

"Thanks." Was all she could say. Ares took a step forwards, running his hand through his hair. 

"Don't thank me yet, love." A cheeky grin appeared on his lips. He came closer to her, too close to Red's liking and she tried backing away. As far as she could until her back hit the wall. "I just earned another favor from you." His grin grew and Red scrunched up her nose. Two favors she owned him now. One worth five hundred bucks and the other a life. She was screwed.

"What do you want from me, Blythe?" She bit. She didn't like how close his body was to hers or how confident he acted whenever she was in his presence. He felt superior to her because he was from the South and she was just a filthy Northsider and he didn't do anything to hide that. 

"I haven't really figured it out yet," he admitted, smiling down at her. She swallowed away the stupid, nervous lump that had formed in her throat. 

"I'm gonna go home now," She announced, her voice trembling ever so slightly. Ares smiled but shook his head at the same time. 

"I can't let you do that, love." 

"Excuse me?" Red crossed her arms over her chest. Ares bit down his lip, his answer not forthcoming. She ducked underneath his arm, to escape from his close presence and headed for the bedroom door, but Ares was quick on his feet. Pushing the door shut again when she had just managed to open it. He pressed his hand against the wood right above her head and once again she found herself pressed up against the door with him hovering over her. "Ares, let me go." She growled. "This isn't funny." 

"I'm not trying to be funny," he replied. "But my dad is still downstairs and if he sees you here, he's going to freak out and he already isn't too fond of me today." It was an honest answer she didn't expect. 

"So, you just expect me to stay here?" He moved away from her now, rushing his hand through his hair. Something had changed. His flirty posture exchanged for an uncertain stance. He dug his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I'm not staying here." Red pressed, trying the make herself perfectly clear. First all of, she didn't want to stay any longer than was necessary. Secondly, it was weird. She had only known the guy for a few days and in that time she'd insulted him, robbed him, almost drowned during his party, needed her ass saved by him and spend the night at his place in his clothes. Sure, everything that had happened was mostly her fault but that didn't mean she had to deal with it, let alone like it. 

"Just, 'till he's gone," Ares breathed out. He'd moved away from Red and sat down on the end of the bed. Red looked at him and not just in a superficial way. No, she really looked at him. She stripped him off his Southsider vibe. She looked passed his gorgeous eyes and tanned skin and hidden beneath all that ego and muscles, she found a guy who stood just as uncertain in life as she did. He would never admit it, especially not to her, but she noticed. She saw it in the way his eyes flickered to the ground and the way he nervously plucked at the loose skin around his fingernails. Maybe Mira was wrong about him. If he was someone who slept around behind his girlfriend's back, he sure would know how to hide a girl in his room. Instead, he was a nervous mess. 

Red's eyes flickered to the large window on the opposite side of the room. She could see the small road that led to the driveway from it. The neatly paved cobble stones and the palm trees on both sides of the road, a large wooden gate at the end of it.  She headed over to the window, with small steps and rested her hand on the window sill as she looked outside. Ares followed her moves, narrowing his eyes as he tried to follow the train of thoughts that went through Red's mind. They were on the second floor. There was a small roof about three feet below the window and a drainpipe that seemed sturdy enough to carry her weight. If she could make it down that she'd only have to jump 5 more feet and that seemed pretty managable. She pursed her lips and Ares quickly caught on with her. 

"You are nuts Maxwell." He said, shaking his head. 

"It's only one story. Don't tell me the famous, reckless Ares Blythe has never sneaked out of his room before." She almost said it mockingly, not believing that after all the stories she'd heard of him, he had never gone down that drainpipe before. Ares rolled his eyes at her. 

"There was no need for me to sneak out, my parents are never home." He let her know, biting down his teeth almost unnoticably. Red pouted in the most fake way she could manage. She even batted her eyelashed for dramatic effect.  

"You almost made me feel sorry for you, pretty boy." Ares just shook his head and turned away from her, digging his hands into the pockets off his sweatpants. "Besides, I'm not asking you to come along. I can get down by myself." 

"Fine." Ares said as Red carefully cracked the window open. "It's your neck that you're breaking."

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I KNOW, I KNOW. I told you guys I wouldn't take a two month hiatus from writing this story but look at me it has been like what? Five months? I'm gonna use the same old boring excuse as I always do, I was really busy. But yeah, here is another chapter! Let's hope this time goes better than last time.