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Apollo is in her room again. He’s in her room and she can’t stop him because she already agreed. It hurts so bad, so much worse than the last time. So she does the only thing she can do, retreat into the greenhouse, no matter how trapped she feels.
She’s there. It’s going to be okay. But then it’s not, it’s really not. The pain is still there, more intense than ever. Why? Why is this happening to her? Kore knows she deserves to be punished, but this seems unbearable. Her greenhouse, the only safe place she has in her mind, it’s not working. She should’ve never let him in in the first place, this never would’ve happened if she didn’t let him in.
He’s recording her again, she can see the flash. No. Not again. Not this time. She sits up, trying to shove him off, but as her eyes open, he’s not there. It felt so real .
It was a dream. Somehow the fact doesn’t comfort her.
Persephone goes to get up, but trips on her hair in the process. She looks around, bubbling with disgust, mostly in herself. Her long hair has been bothering her more lately. She can’t quite place a finger on why, but it pains her to see it. She’s about to get the scissors when an alarm goes off from her phone. She glances at the time, and sees it’s not her first alarm, but her third. It’s the one she sets just in case, but just in case hasn’t happened until now.
She barely has any time to get dressed for work, let alone cut her hair. As much as the thought hurts to think about, she tries to ignore the literal weight on her shoulders.
Flying to work is more convenient, it must’ve slipped her mind. But by the time she reaches the tower, she’s a few minutes early. She feels so stupid, she would've had time. Artemis is always saying she needs to put self care first, it’s just hard after being told by her mom her whole life that being on time was more important than life itself. Conditioning sucks.
She makes her way into the building, smiling at the lady at the front desk. She doesn’t smile back. People down here seem so sad all the time, like they’re just waiting for another job to come along. Perse wonders if they’d think she was weird for wanting to work here forever. She can’t explain it, it’s just peaceful here. Hades has done a wonderful with the Underworld, she doesn’t think he gets enough credit.
There’s also a familiarity of it, going to work everyday. The path she takes, even the ding of the elevator is comforting, just because she does it at the same time. Before the doors shut though, a hand shoots through the door. In walks Hades.
Of course.
“Hello Kore.” He gives her that smile. She blushes, she doesn’t know if it’s from the name or his stupid, perfect face, but she really hopes he didn’t see it. She returns the greeting, but only in a whisper. She doesn’t want the embarrassment to show in her voice.
“Your hair looks nice.” he tells her. If Hecate was here she’d probably be having a seizure, what with Hades constantly complimenting her and all. And it’s not even that she minds, she enjoys it quite honestly. Not today though. It’s not the dream either, it’s her fucking hair.
The all too familiar hot feeling of tears seems to be burning her face. It shouldn’t be bothering her this much. She wanted this. She tries to hide with her locks, at least they're good for that. Actually screw that. This is their fault. She wishes she could just rip them out, or that her hair would just grow like a mortal's.
The door opens, not on her floor, and surely Hades knows that, but she leaves anyway. It’s gonna be okay, it has to be. But then there’s footsteps behind and a hand on her shoulder. She can’t take it, it’s all too much lately. He can’t see her cry, and yet he’s here watching all of it. She collapses.
“Kore? Kore, are you alright?” His arms are on her shoulders, they’re too gentle. She pushes him away.
“Don’t call me that.” She doesn’t even mind it, he could call her anything. But she’s so angry, and it needs to be directed at someone. She looks up at him, not even meaning to give him her puppy dog eyes, but she does anyway. As much as Hades is hurting, he wants to help her.
“Do you want to come to my office?” It sounds so wrong coming out of his mouth, Hecate really will have his head. But what’s he supposed to do? Leave her there? No. He glances at Persephone, and she’s nodding. He offers her his hand to help her up, but resists the urge to keep holding it afterwards. He needs to have some semblance of self control.
-
He’s going to kill Apollo. He swears to god he’s going to do it.
Persephone didn’t explain everything. She didn’t have to. Minthe had told him about something similar that had happened to her. He doesn’t want to push too hard, but he doesn’t have to either. He can feel the anger in his veins. He is going to kill that bastard.
“You need to stay away from him, alright?” It doesn’t feel right ordering her around, but he’s also not letting that prick near her again.
“It’s kind of hard,” she wipes her eyes, as if that’ll do anything at this point. “He tries to drive me home from school everyday.”
“And you let him?!” She shrugs. “You’re letting me give you a ride tomorrow." Persephone wants to ask about the tabloids, but he seems dead set.
-
Hades is fuming in his car, but he still notices the pink out of the corner of his eye. He always notices. Persephone is headed towards him, so he puts the key in the ignition. Getting out of here as quick as possible is the only way he’s going to stay sane.
While he’s looking away though, a certain someone grabs Persephone by the arm. All concept of time is floating away when she looks up and sees his face. It all floods back to her, and this time she’s not going to blame herself. She pulls her arm out of his grasp.
“Someone’s acting feisty today.” he laughs at her, but there’s still a flame in Apollo’s eye. The only thing that’s suffocating it is a small crowd of her classmates amassing around them.
“Everything alright Kore?” comes a voice from behind her. It’s nice to hear, and she appreciates him being here. Even so, she needs him to be gone. The students gathering around the two of them, them too. This is something that needs to be exchanged between just him and her. She’s not looking for drama.
But then he grabs her again.
If drama’s what he wants, then he can have it.
The last thing he sees before getting his lights knocked out is her red eyes. Of course if you’d have asked him afterwards he wouldn’t remember.
As her knuckles connect with his face, Persephone gets a rush of adrenaline. It’s either cancelling out the pain, or she’s not feeling any, because man, she feels great. Seeing him lying on the ground just makes her want to kick him in the stomach. He looks so vulnerable. He looks like how she feels. But no, it’s not necessary. She got her point across. She turns around to see Hades, jaw dropped. She makes her way to him, and hugs him harder than she thought she had the strength for.
“Thanks for showing up.” she whispers to him. It takes a few seconds for the shock to wear off, but he hugs her back.
“Of course, you did great.” She lets him go, “You still want a ride home?”
She raises her hand to her cheek to wipe away tears, but realizes there are none. That’s a win in itself. Confidence is bursting at the seams.
“I think I’ll walk.”
Before a few seconds ago, Hades would have argued. Not anymore. He doesn't know how he ever could've doubted her.