Home Is Where She Is

Chapter 22

Me: How do I know you are not lying???

Annabeth (falling to the floor and bursting into tears): I'm not.... I really do love Percy!!! And I will find him and get him back!!!

I feel a bit happy knowing that she didn't betray me but I can't help feeling sorry for her. I don't love her anymore, I never did love her even when I was dating her, a large part of my heart did not belong to her but I had chosen to ignore it... Even without realizing it, I've been in love with Serenity since I was born, deep down I knew that Annabeth was not the one for me, that there was someone else and I have no intentions on losing her or giving her up...

Suddenly, the door opened and in walked the person I hate the most, Nathan... Seeing us he glared...

Nathan: What are you doing in my cabin??? (Growling)

Me: I was just leaving...

I walked out of the room without looking back... Once out, I debated what to do next; there was still some hour till dinner. I decided to find Serenity and ask her... I walked towards the beach, to see her sitting on the sand, staring at the sunset... The only thing I could think about was how beautiful she looked sitting there with her silky black hair blowing in the wind... I stopped daydreaming and called her name while walking towards her...

Serenity (giving me a beautiful smile): Hey!!!

Me: You once told me that you look into Annabeth's thoughts, right??? Do you still do it???

She looked surprised and confused but still answered my question..

Serenity: Yes... sometimes... Why???

Me: Does Annabeth love me???

It wasn't after I said those words, did I realize how wrong it was... I'm literally asking my girlfriend whether my ex loves me or not. Can I get any stupider???

Serenity (looking surprised): What???

I quickly explained my meeting with her and what all she told me, while Serenity listened attentively... I feel really bad asking Serenity about this but I need to know whether she betrayed me or not. For someone whose fatal flaw is loyalty, betrayal is worse than death...

After I finished explaining, I waited to see Serenity's reaction... I knew she would understand... She turned back and stared at the horizon for some time taking in everything I told her, so I decided to sit next to her while she processed everything... I wanted to touch her and play with her hair but I wasn't sure whether now would be the right time for that.... After sometime Serenity looked at me...

Serenity: Can I ask you a question??? (Continuing after I nodded my head... (I wonder what she is going to ask...)) Aphrodite and Ares or Aphrodite and Hephaestus... What do you think about these two relationships???

Okay... What??? I don't get how that has anything to do with what I asked her... But knowing Serenity, she won't ask a question for absolutely no reason... After thinking about her question for a minute, I reply...

Me: She loves Ares and hates Hephaestus??? (it came out as a question rather than a reply...)

Serenity (giving me a small smile): Wrong... The answer is she loves Hephaestus and lusts for Ares...

Me: Firstly, What??? She doesn't act as though she loves Hephaestus... And secondly, isn't love and lust the same???

Serenity: I'll first answer your second question... Love and lust are not the same... When you lust for someone you are only interested in their outer appearances while when you love someone, you are interested in more than the outer appearance...

Me: Okay... But why can't she just love and lust Hephaestus???

Serenity (looking at me as though I was stupid): Lust is the outer appearance... The probability of lusting for someone who has muscles and abs and who looks perfect is way higher than the probability of lusting for someone who is huge, deformed and ugly, no offence to Hephaestus... It's kind of obvious...

Me: That does make sense... But, why ask tell me all this???

Serenity: While some people love and lust the same person, there are also some who loves a person and lust for someone else, leading to them cheating on the one they love... So, if you are asking whether Annabeth loves you, then yes she does. But... If you want to know whether she lusts for only you or whether she lusts for others... Well, I'm sorry to say that she does... Even when she liked you, she lusted for Luke. Even after dating you, Annabeth has lusted for others.... like Jason, Will, some of her brothers or Ares' children... Also, she lusts for Nathan...

Ohh... I get it... I understand why she bought up the topic of love and lust when I'd asked her whether Annabeth actually loved me... She wanted me to understand that even though Annabeth did love me, I wasn't able to satisfy her and that she looked at others... It hurt a bit knowing I did so much for someone like her...

Even though I was a bit upset, I was more curious about this topic... Even though I had heard of love and lust, I had always thought of them as the same...

Me: Ohh... What about 'love at first sight'???

Serenity: Well... When you say 'love at first sight', it is basically falling for someone because of their looks... I don't know what others think but I consider that as lust...

Me: So then the person doesn't love the other at all???

Serenity: No... You are attracted by their appearance, and then you want to know more about them and slowly fall for that person... 

This topic was kind of interesting but unfortunately time was running and we had about fifteen minutes for dinner... But there was still one very, very important question I had to ask...

Me: What about you??? Have you lusted for someone else???

Serenity: I was created to be your other half and satisfy your needs, do you think I'd lust for someone else???

Me: But you were so keen on defying that!!

It was true, father created her for the very purpose of us falling in love, and I did from the moment I saw her, but she rebelled... She didn't want to be told what to do so she would never fall for my advances... That was what made me even more attracted to her in the first place; nobody or nothing had ever questioned, judged or disobeyed anything I asked, except her... Before I knew it I was head over heels in love with her and very, very frustrated at her rejecting me...

Finally she agreed to go on a date with me... At first I was very nervous and kept asking myself, "What if she doesn't enjoy the date?" "What if she feels less attracted to me?" "What if I mess up?" and many other questions crossed my mind... I was literally dying of fear of screwing it up but after a few seconds with her, at the beach, I forgot everything and tried to enjoy myself... I remember creating a ball of water and drenching her from head to toe, then starting to laugh. After that we started throwing balls of water at each other and overall the date was fun. Before parting I thanked her for accepting the date, she told me she had fun and one thing led to another and we kissed... (I had my first kiss at the age of one thousand eight hundred years (eighteen human years) and let me tell you, it was awesome and worth the wait..)

We continued dating and after a few years, I proposed and she accepted and my father was giggling with glee, literally, that his plan succeeded (though not the way he expected...)

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Hey... How was this chapter??? I was not exactly sure of adding the love/ lust part at first but decided to do it in the end... What did you think about it??? Was it nice or did it seem stupid??? I also want to know whether you would like some events from Alesandro/Percy's and Serenity's past (like the date)... If so please comment...

Thank you for all the reads.... I hope you enjoyed this chapter... Don't forget to vote, share and comment...😀😀😀😀

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