"I know it's hard to keep an open heart when even friends seem out to harm you"
-Guns N Roses
I was yet again awakened in the middle of the night by a nightmare. The same nightmare. My face was covered in sweat and my hands were trembling. I looked beside me, at the nightstand and grabbed my phone to check the time. It was a little past
three AM. I didn't even get four full hours of sleep, since I went to bed after midnight.
With a frustrated sigh, I got up and changed in some clean clothes. I wore an oversized t-shirt with some booty shorts and headed back to bed. I tossed and turned but I wasn't able to fall back asleep.
I layed on my back and stared at the ceiling, contemplating on what to do now. Feeling a bit thirsty I decided to get my ass off the bed and go get some water from the kitchen.
I silently exited my room and tiptoed down the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone up. Fortunately, Atlas and Matt had given me a tour of the house and I had started getting familiar with it. It's not my fault that it took me so long, this place is huge and direction is not my friend.
I arrived at the kitchen without waking anyone up and I smile triumphantly at my self. Not to brag or anything but I am awesome. Being tiny in a house full of giants has its perks.
I quickly walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a glass, with great difficulty may I add. Everything's so high up that I had to stand on my tippy toes to reach.
I filled my glass with cold water and drank the whole thing greedily. I was thirstier than I thought.
I was about to head back to my room when I spotted a bag of chips in the back of the cabinet I had opened, hiding behind the wine glasses. I narrowed my eyes and stared at it. We're usually not allowed to have junk food or 'garbage' like these in our home because, well, Anthony is a health freak.
I walked slowly towards it and took a look around to see if I'm still alone. I extended my hand to grab it but before I got a chance to even touch the bag, the front door opened and closed with a thud, startling me.
My eyes widened in horror because I thought that everyone was already home. I quickly closed the cabinet and started to head towards the exit, hoping to get to my room before being spotted by whoever that was that just arrived.
But when has luck ever been on my side? That's right, never. And it obviously had to be the brother that hates me the one who finds me roaming around in the middle of the night. It couldn't be Atlas or even Matt. Of course it was Ares.
I didn't even get a chance to exit the kitchen before he arrived and stood at the entrance, glaring at me.
"H-Hey Ar-" I began but was rudely interrupted.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" He slurred.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you drunk?" I answered with a question of my own.
He glared at me. "It's none of your business"
He tried to take a step forward and enter the kitchen fully when he lost his balance and started swaying back and forth. I was quick to grab him by the arm and stabilized him.
I walked him over to a stool, where I sat him down and took in his appearance. He had a black eye and a basted lip. His knuckles were torn and bloodied.
"Jesus, Ares." I whispered causing him to look up at me. He narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.
I walked over to the freezer and grabbed a bag of frozen pees. I placed it on the counter and then I ran up to my bathroom to get my first aid kit.
Thankfully when I got back he was still there, staring at me weirdly.
I walked over to him and held out the back of pees.
"What are you doing?" He asked confused.
"Hold it on your eye." I told him sternly.
At first he was sceptical but eventually he complied. Once his eye was dealt with I began to open the first aid kit.
I took out some rubbing alcohol and poured it on a cotton pad.
"This might sting" I warned him
He didn't say anything, he didn't move, he didn't even flinch. He just stared at me with an unreadable expression.
I then proceeded to clean and bandage his knuckles.
"You should change the bandages tomorrow or simply take them off. Most of the blood wasn't yours so the wounds aren't really that bad. Don't ice your eye for too long, take breaks."
I advised and started making my way towards my room.
"Athena..." I heard Ares mumble.
"Yeah?" I said without turning around.
"Will you stay with me?" He asked in a hesitant tone.
I turned around and looked at him with furrowed brows. "Ares, you're drunk, I dont-"
"Please, stay with me" He pleaded, his voice breaking at the end.
I let out a sigh but eventually nodded.
I went and sat beside him, none of us saying anything for a while.
Then he began talking. "I wasn't always like this." He lifted his head to look at me.
Was he really opening up to me? I didn't reply, not wanting to interrupt him. I just nodded my head.
"I wasn't a bad person when I was young. Sure, I had my anger issues but they weren't that bad." He said and dropped his head in his palms.
"You know who helped me control them?" He asked looking straight in my eyes.
"Who?" I whispered.
"My best friend. His name was David. We did everything together. He was there for me when I was at my lowest, he even helped me deal with your whole kidnapping ordeal. He was a brother to me more than a friend. I mean, he even had his own room in this house, he was basically family. "
I just nodded, not knowing where this was going.
"Well, of course that was before he tried to kill me." He announced and I stared at him wide eyed.
"What?" I mumbled.
"Mhm... It was just a normal day, we were hanging out like usual and he suddenly pulled out a gun and aimed it right here." He said pointing at his heart.
"Of course, I was able to overpower him, considering that I'd been training all my life for these kinds of situations. The thing was... What was I supposed to do with him then? I didn't know how to act. I tried to reason with him, asking him what the hell he was doing." He said as a tear ran down his cheek.
"You know what he said?" He let out a humorless chuckle. "He said that whatever we had all these years was great but some guy offered him a shit load of money for my head and he wasn't stupid enough to decline. I told him that if money was the problem, then he knew that I could always help him. We are billionaires for fuck sake. He just shook his head and said 'and where's the fun in that?'... He actually wanted to kill me, Athena. My best friend since I was just a little kid wanted to kill me. I stared at him shocked. I didn't want to believe him. He took advantage of my state and tried to attack me again. I was quick to defend myself, though. I killed him before he had a chance to kill me."He finished in a whisper.
Saying that I was shocked is an understatement. I was dumbfounded, I didn't know what to say, so I stayed quiet. Instead I got up and engulfed him in a tight hug.
"I was so scared of getting close to you, Athena. I was afraid that you were gonna betray me, just like he did, so instead I tried to hate you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry"
He melted in my arms and broke down. His body was shaking with the sobs that were escaping his mouth. I could feel him pulling me closer, clinging to me for dear life.
I softly caressed his hair, whispering sweet reassurances in his ear.
"It's okay, Ares. You don't have to apologize, it's all good."
He just cried harder and harder until finally his sobs turned into small sniffles.
He pulled away and wiped his tears.
"Why were you up anyway?" He asked, desperately trying to change the subject.
I contemplated lying to him but I couldn't do it after he trusted me with his story.
"It's nothing, I just had a nightmare." I waved him off.
He narrowed his eyes at me. "That's not nothing. What was it about?"
"Ares, you're really tired, you should rest, we'll talk about this tomorrow." I told him while helping him get up.
"We will talk about this tomorrow." He said with finality while we made our way up the stairs.
We passed my room but he didn't loosen his hold on me, causing me to look at him, confused.
"Um, that's my room, you can let go."
"You're sleeping in my room tonight. What kind of brother would I be if I let my little sister sleep alone after having a nightmare." He looked at me with amusement glinting in his eyes.
I smiled at that. "Right, of course."
Once we entered his room we made our way to his bed. After he changed into sweatpants we both jumped in and he hugged me tightly to his chest.
I snuggled closer, enjoying the warmth he was emitting.
"Athena..." He said once I began falling asleep.
"Hmm" I hummed, too sleepy to actually speak.
"I'm sorry for being such a jerk, it's just-"
"Shh" I interrupted him. "S'all good" I answered sleepily with a small smile.
He kissed the top of my head and whispered in my ear.
"I love you more than you can imagine"
I grinned sleepily and kissed his cheek. "I love you too, Ares. And I'll always be there for you. Always." I said more sternly.
He just smiled at that. "I know" He whispered and we both fell in a peaceful slamber.
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-A