Archive of Our Own

Persephone had finally got the approval she needed, so she was moving out of her mother’s house.

Four years of commuting was literally driving her crazy and after a lot of convincing her mother had finally relented and agreed that, as a 22 year old woman, she was able to make her own choices. Even if it meant moving out of the farm and into a little studio apartment on the edge of the city.

Her mother had come to the viewing and Persephone could see that even she was impressed by the place. The floor to ceiling windows made it feel like she was almost in the fresh air and Persephone could definitely see herself living there.

The woman showing her around, Hecate, was also a resident in the building and had answered all their questions with endless patience, even when Demeter had asked increasingly invasive questions about the other people living there.

Hecate had just smiled “I can personally vouch for everyone in this building, your daughter will be very safe here,” then she nodded to Persephone’s bright pink hair, “and I think she’ll fit in well.”

Demeter just looked confused, as if she now had more questions than answers.

On their way out they had run into a few people, but one couple in particular seemed to set Demeter’s nerves at rest. Hermes and his boyfriend Thanatos had cooed over Persephone in the lobby, and had even praised Demeter for making the trip out with her.

“You can never be too careful these days,” Hermes had nodded in agreement, “don’t worry, we’ll take care of this little lady if she moves in.”

Hermes was at least two heads taller than her and that wasn’t including his flyaway, fire engine red hair. His enthusiasm made him seem larger than life, and his sun kissed skin reminded Persephone of the farmhands back home.

Thanatos sighed, “Hermes, we can’t keep adopting every newbie to the building.”

Thanatos was the polar opposite of Hermes, he was quiet and wore his white hair in a bun on the top of his head. His skin looked as though it had never seen the sunlight and he looked even paler with Hermes beside him.

Hermes widened his eyes in faux innocence, “but Than, she’s a cinnamon roll!”

Demeter had actually cracked a smile at that and turned to Hecate, already starting to ask when the move in date was.

Hermes scooped Persephone up in a bear hug, “welcome to the building neighbour! Take our numbers and let us know if you need anything at all.”

Demeter had taken their numbers as well, and Persephone was whisked away to sign a lease and pay her deposit.

Persephone was stood in the lobby again the next week, this time with a car full of boxes and a mother who was fussing over her.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” She asked, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“Yes mama,” Persephone looked to the ceiling, feeling her eyes watering. “Let’s go open the place up.”

Her mother insisted on taking a picture of her in front of the apartment door with keys in hand before she opened the place. 

“Do you want me to take a picture of the both of you?” A quiet voiced asked and Persephone was surprised to see another girl in the hallway. She could have only had a few years on Persephone and her hair was a bright purple. 

“Yes, thank you,” Demeter passed her phone over and pulled Persephone into her side, resting her head on her daughters and smiling at the phone.

The woman took a few pictures and then passed the phone back, “I’m Artemis, I live next door, do you need any help bringing your things in?”

“I’m Persephone,” she offered a hand, “and that would be great thank you.”

The work was easier between the three women and soon Persephone’s living room was filled with moving boxes.

Artemis had left her number and an invitation to come around for a movie night in the week. Demeter seemed to like her and Persephone felt better knowing she wouldn’t be totally alone.

After a tearful goodbye with her mother Persephone looked around the room and tried to make a plan of what to unpack first.

She put some music on and slowly started making her new place feel like a home. 

*****

Persephone had designated the next day to exploring the city a little. Even though she had been attending classes here for four years she hadn’t had a chance to do much more than go to class and go back home. She was excited to see what she would find.

She’d done her hair up in her usual space buns and wore a cute pale pink shift dress that matched her heeled sandals. 

She checked the door was locked for the second time and walked down the corridor to the elevator, pressing the button as she scrolled through her phone.

The doors opened and Persephone stepped into the elevator, it was impossible to miss the man already occupying the small space but she tried to hide her initial reaction. 

The man was at least three heads taller than her, even in heels she only came up to his chest. He had dark eyes and his olive skin was in direct contrast to the white hair at his temple. 

He was wearing a black suit with a blue pocket square and Persephone’s eyes were drawn to it immediately, it seemed to be the only colour he was wearing. 

She blushed, realising that she’s been staring at him and ignoring the phone in her hands, she looked away and shook her head slightly. 

“Hi, I’m Persephone,” she turned back to him and held a hand out, “I moved in yesterday.”

His eyes met hers and Persephone thought she could see a small blush across his cheekbones, “nice to meet you, I’m Hades.” He shook her hand and Persephone couldn’t help but notice how his hand practically swallowed hers. “How are you settling in?”

“Well, nothing’s in a box anymore so I’d like to think I’m nearly there, I’m just doing a bit of exploring today,” she smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“First time in the city then?”

“Not really,” Persephone shrugged, “I’ve been studying at the university for four years now, I’ve just finally had enough of commuting all the time. Two hours a day stuck in a car will do that to you.”

Hades nodded and leaned back, “ah, that sounds like it would really drive you crazy.”

Persephone narrowed her eyes at him slightly, she didn’t know if the pun was intentional but she hoped it wasn’t. A man this good looking couldn’t have a decent sense of humour, it could only mean trouble for her.

The elevator opened to the lobby with a soft ding and Hades moved to one side and held an arm out to let Persephone out first.

She nodded in thanks and walked across the lobby, concentrating on not falling flat on her face in front of Hades.

He’d somehow managed to catch up to her and get in front of her just in time to hold the door open.

She stopped for a second, wondering if she’d been transported back fifty years, to a time where chivalry wasn’t dead.

She let out a surprised giggle and said, “thank you very much, kind sir,” as she stepped out.

“It was my pleasure, sweetness,” Hades said idly, “I hope your day of exploring goes well.”

“Thank you,” she bit her lip, “hopefully I’ll see you around?”

One side of his mouth pulled up and his eyes looked almost surprised, “I- yeah, I hope we run into each again soon.”

He turned away from her quickly and Persephone watched as he walked down the street, away from the stores and in the direction of a few office buildings. 

Persephone turned on her heel and headed in the direction of the shops.

*****

“You should’ve been there Eros,” Persephone said, her phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder as she chopped an onion for the sauce she was making. “He held the door open for me and I’m pretty sure he made a pun about my commute.”

“How do you even make a pun about commuting?” 

Persephone sighed, “you wouldn’t appreciate it even if I did tell you.”

Eros hummed, “that’s true. So, is he hot?”

Persephone giggled, “like you wouldn’t believe.”

Eros gasped, “tell me everything you little tart.”

Persephone laughed at his nickname for her. It couldn’t have been further from the truth and they both knew it. 

She’d met Eros on the first day of university. He didn’t go there himself, but his girlfriend, Psyche, was in a few of Persephone’s classes and she had insisted on her joining them for lunch. 

Eros had taken one look at her and declared them platonic soulmates, Psyche had just laughed and asked if she also needed to dye her hair pink in order to keep hanging out with them.

Psyche had graduated last year but they still kept in touch and Eros had kept the mantle of both best friend and stand in big brother for Persephone.

“Well...” she drew it out until she heard him groaning down the phone.

“Please put him out of his misery Persephone,” Psyche’s voice echoed down the phone.

“He’s at least a foot and a half taller than me,” Persephone could hear a clap down the phone, as if the couple had just high fived. “He had a suit on and his voice! Ugh, he called me ‘sweetness’ and it’s all I’ve been hearing all day.”

Eros let out a whistle, “so, when can we come over to ogle the eye candy ourselves?”

Persephone let out another laugh, “you’re welcome to come around any time, but unless you hang out in the elevator and hope he comes along you probably won’t see him.”

“What?” Eros squawked, “did you not get his number?”

“No,” she groaned, “it all happened so fast, one minute he’s saying that he’s ‘hoping to run into me’ and the next he’s marching off.”

Eros groaned in sympathy but Psyche cut across his voice, “maybe next time you see him though?” 

She sounded hopeful and Persephone couldn’t help but mirror her tone, “maybe.”

*****

Persephone was starting to think that she had jinxed the entire encounter. She hadn’t seen any hint of Hades for two weeks now and she was starting to think she had imagined the whole thing.

Classes had started again and she was enjoying the freedom and extra time that living so close to campus had granted her. She’d spent more time with Eros and Psyche, and even had them around for pizza one night as a small home warming party. 

The movie night with Artemis had gone well, one glass of wine turning into one bottle, and then another after that. They’d both regretted it the morning after, as the sun poured in through the floor to ceiling windows and had no mercy for their headaches. After a pint of water and some aspirin Artemis tentatively suggested they stick to the one bottle next time, Persephone had just laughed and agreed.

Hermes and Thanatos stopped her in the lobby on the way to class a few mornings, always willing to have a chat and invite her over to play some video games. She’d not taken them up on the offer yet, but every time Hermes asked her Thanatos would shake his head and mouth ‘save yourself’, so she thought she was making a smart choice. Persephone had baked a few batches of baklava and dropped one off at their apartment in apology and, given Hermes’ moan as he ate a bite, it had worked.

She’d even ran into Hecate in the hallway, her black pant suit standing out against the cream walls. After a little small talk she had needed to run, pushing some tea into Persephone’s hands and calling out ‘it’ll help you sleep’. Persephone didn’t know how Hecate had known that she was finding it difficult to adapt to living alone, but she was thankful for it all the same.

Still, she hadn’t seen Hades around, and she was tempted to ask Artemis if she’d met the tall stranger before realising that she was sounding more and more like a stalker.

*****

On the second Saturday in her new apartment Persephone decided it was about time she did some laundry. She knew Eros would have a comment for her about how she should be spending her Saturdays nights, but as she currently didn’t have any clean clothes it wasn’t like she had a choice.

She’d worn the last clean dress she owned yesterday and hadn’t even realised it until she tried to get dressed this morning. She walked through her apartment, trying to make sure she had everything she needed before she took the elevator down to the laundry rooms in the basement.

On a last minute whim she took her bra off, switching for a white and yellow bikini top so she could wash her white one. 

She looked herself over in the mirror before she left, frowning a little at the underwear, very visible through the thin white T-shirt she was wearing, but as she doubted she would run into anyone at this time of night she wasn’t overly concerned. 

She grabbed her headphones and her phone, taking a minute to rearrange her laundry basket so a maxi dress was on the top, effectively covering her dirty clothes in case she did run into anyone. She put her headphones in and put her phone in the basket on top of her clothes.

Grabbing her keys on the way out she pulled her door closed and walked down the corridor. She leaned against the button for the elevator to call it, picking another song from one of Eros’ playlists. 

The elevator took a little longer than usual to arrive, but soon enough it opened with the familiar ding Persephone barely heard over her music.

She took an automatic step forward before stopping when she realised who was waiting in the elevator. 

Hades was just as devastatingly handsome as the first time she’d seen him, but this time he was just in a black button down and black pants, not a hint of colour anywhere in his outfit. His white hair looked all the brighter for it and his eyes seemed softer around the edges, as if he was more comfortable like this, although she couldn’t help but notice a slight curl to his lips that suggested he was annoyed.

She realised she’d been stood there for a second too long, his eyes slid to her and she shot him an embarrassed smile as she stepped into the elevator, only noticing now that there were two other people occupying the small space.

One of the men seemed to be enthralled in his phone, most likely typing out a long message with the way his thumbs were flying over the keyboard. 

The other was, oh, Persephone sighed internally, he was practically undressing her with his eyes. She couldn’t help but shift a little and try to pull her T-shirt over her shoulder where it had fallen down.

Hades coughed clearly and moved slightly so he was now in between her and the stranger as the doors closed. She leant forward and pressed the button for the lower levels, trying to ignore the eyes she could feel on her.

She could hear mumbling over her music now, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying. The third man had put his phone away and seemed to be listening to the other men by the time her song had come to an end. 

As the music died down and changed to the next song she could hear what they were saying. She was surprised to hear that they were speaking Greek, using a similar dialect to what she had learned growing up with her mother. 

After a second she tried to fight down a blush as she realised they were talking about her.

“... could stop staring at her.”

“You ruin all my fun, who is she?” One of the men asked.

“She moved in a few weeks ago,” Hades replied, his voice making the language sound like a melody. 

Another song was starting and Persephone quickly reached into the basket, subtly turning the volume down so she could listen to the conversation.

“But who is she?” The same voice repeated.

“She’s a student at the university, doing her masters I think,” Hades said, sounding uninterested.

Persephone bit her lip and tried to quell the disappointment she could feel rising in her. Of course he would think she’s too young, he must be at least thirty and wouldn’t be interested in someone who was basically a child. 

“So you won’t mind if I ask her out then?” The voice casually asked.

She nearly turned to face them at that but she froze instead, trying to not draw attention to herself. 

“You will do no such thing,” Hades hissed.

“Oh, so you do like her then?” The other voice teased.

“Zeus, it’s really none of our business,” a new voice chimed in.

“But I’d like to make it my business, and if our dear older brother hasn’t made his mind up yet I get dibs,” the sleazy voice replied, sending chills down her spine. 

Persephone was sure her face was bright red at this point and was glad she had left her hair down today so she could partially hide behind it.

“Who’s saying I haven’t made my mind up?” Hades asked quietly and the discomfort Persephone had been feeling was chased away by a shiver as the authority in his voice washed over her.

The brothers started cheering like they were watching a football game and Persephone looked over at them in time to see Hades rolling his eyes at them and then glance over to her.

They held eye contact for a second before Persephone blushed again and looked away.

“Looks like she likes you too bro,” the shorter man said.

The doors opened to the lobby and the brother exited, Hades turned to look at her again and she sent a small smile his way and held eye contact until the doors closed and she continued down to the basement.

The first thing she did was rip her headphones out and throw her laundry in one of the washers. She loaded it up with her favourite fabric softener (it smelled like pomegranates and reminded her of home) and switched it on.

Then she stood in the middle of the room, thinking over the conversation she’d just heard and she felt her mouth raise into a smile until her cheeks hurt.

She picked up her phone and was halfway to ringing Eros when she noticed she had no signal. She bit her lip and contemplated just leaving her washing here and coming back down to switch it to a dryer when the time was up.

She deliberated for about five minutes before deciding that she couldn’t justify leaving her clothes down here, especially as it was practically all the clothes she owned at the moment. She didn’t think anyone in the building would do anything, but there were a few people she hadn’t met yet and she didn’t even want to think about them going missing.

She sat down on one of the benches and played games on her phone, still buzzing from seeing Hades again.

When the hour was up she threw all her clothes into one of the dryers and sat back down. 

Persephone wondered what it would be like the next time she saw him. She couldn’t explain that she had been curious and turned the volume down to eavesdrop, and she definitely couldn’t tell him that she also spoke Greek and had understood every word he had said.

She’d have the play it cool, she decided, pretend she had no idea and just see how he wanted to handle it.

It wasn’t like she had any other options. 

She considered the ways he could handle it, each getting more ridiculous than the last.

Idly she wondered what Eros would suggest, if he’d approve of her plan to let Hades make the first move.

Probably not, she thought, he’d say to wait naked in front of Hades’ door until he came back.

When it came to subtlety Eros was on par with a brick to the face.

The dryer let out a small beep as it slowed to a halt and Persephone stood over and started unloading it into her basket, surprised that the second hour had passed so quickly.

She made her way back to the elevator, leaving her headphones and phone safely tucked into her freshly cleaned clothes.

She didn’t need to wait long and soon she was being whisked back upstairs. 

She felt her heart miss a beat as it slowed sooner than it should have.

The doors opened for the lobby and she felt a rush of disappointment and embarrassment when she realised it was Hermes and Thanatos.

She smiled at them, noticing that they were both wearing matching suits and Hermes was leaning heavily on Thanatos for support.

“Date night?” She guessed as they shuffled into the elevator with her.

Thanatos just laughed and nodded along with Hermes, elbowing his floor number with the arm wrapped around his boyfriend’s waist.

The doors were sliding closed when a voice called out, “hold the doors please.”

Persephone did the first thing she could think of and stuck her bare leg out and in the doors’ way. They only pressed on her leg for a second and then they were slinging open, revealing Hades once again.

His head was tilted down, his eyes slowly panning up her leg where it was still suspended in mid air.

She quickly dropped her leg and blushed.

Hades seemed more relaxed than he had earlier in the night. The top few buttons of his shirt were undone, giving Persephone a glimpse of his collarbones. His face was flushed and his pupils were dilated, making his eyes seem almost black.

He stepped in and sent her a smile and a low “thank you.”

Persephone smiled back at him, she opened her mouth but Hermes interrupted her.

“Persephone,” he practically sang, “you’re so cute when you blush.”

As if it was a cue her face heated up, she was still looking at Hades and he seemed to be staring at her cheeks. He lifted a hand up, as if to cup her cheek and Persephone found herself already leaning in, ready for the touch.

“Aw Than look,” Hermes looked up at his boyfriend, “I think they’re having a moment.”

Hades seemed to realise his surroundings and dropped his hand, stepping away and turning to face the doors.

“Not anymore Hermes,” Thanatos muttered, rolling his eyes at him.

Persephone could feel her heart sink, but, she rationalised to herself, it’s only because there are other people here with us.

The doors opened on Hermes and Than’s floor and the couple staggered out, calling out a goodbye behind them.

Persephone laughed and called back, “goodnight, enjoy the hangovers!” 

The doors slid closed and Persephone could feel the tension multiply, she looked over at Hades and saw he was already staring at her.

“You shouldn’t be carrying that,” he said, his voice rough. He moved closer to her and reached out for the basket in her hands.

He took the basket from her and placed it against his opposite hip, her arms were still reaching out in shock. He smiled goofily down at her.

She shook her head slightly and remembered her manners, “thank you, you don’t have to do that though.”

He smiled wider and leant forward, “but what if I want to?”

She blushed again, “well, um-“

“You are pretty when you blush,” he said, using his free hand to lightly trace his finger tips across her cheekbone.

She leaned into the touch and from their close proximity she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Hades... have you been drinking?” She asked.

His eyes widened in alarm and for some reason the thought of him being worried about her reaction had her mouth pulling up into a smile.

“I’m not judging, I would just hate for you to do something you’d regret,” she said softly, reaching up to hold onto the hand still pressed against her cheek.

For some reason his whole body seemed to droop, either in tiredness or... disappointment? He pulled his hand back quickly and held onto her washing basket with both hands.

“Of course,” he said, and the doors opened, as if they were waiting on his response as well. He handed her basket back and took a step away. “Goodnight Persephone.”

Persephone couldn’t help but shiver at his formal tone, it was miles away from the warmth she was used to and she couldn’t help but feel like she’d just made a mistake.

She stepped out of the elevator, but didn't want to leave while the atmosphere was so frosty. She turned on the spot.

“Goodnight Hades,” she breathed and his eyes snapped to her face in surprise, she sent a small smile his way, “sleep well.”

The door closed as his eyes widened in shock and Persephone couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

She returned to her apartment, throwing the basket down and grabbing her phone. She sent a quick message to Eros inviting him to go out for a coffee the next day. She wasn’t sure she could fit everything that had happened into a text and didn't want to miss anything out.

She was distracted as she put her clothes away, still thinking over their interaction.

She was still thinking it over as she changed into her pyjamas and slipped into bed. She just couldn’t figure out what had happened to made him pull a 180 on her.

Her phone vibrated on her bedside, she picked it up and saw a text from Eros agreeing to coffee. 

Maybe he would have the insight she didn't have right now.

*****

They chose the small independent coffee shop just around the corner from Persephone’s apartment. It had always had the most delicious smells and she couldn’t believe she had managed to resist the draw for two weeks.

She wore a simple white sundress and sandals and even got there a little early so she could get their drinks. Eros had sounded hungover on the phone and she needed him to be fully awake to help her.

She sat down with the drinks and a blueberry muffin for herself and was turning around in her seat to see the door when Eros walked in, his pale pink hair making it easy to spot him under the sunglasses.

He groaned as he sat down and immediately took a large sip of the coffee in front of him. He put his head on the table for a moment and Persephone took a bite of her muffin, waiting for him to stop with the dramatics. 

“So,” he said, pulling his head up and supporting his head on his hands, “how was your Saturday night?”

She smiled, “I did some laundry.”

His mouth dropped open, “please don’t tell me you called me here at this ungodly hour to tell me about the washing machines in your building.”

“Nope,” she popped another bite of the muffin in her mouth, “I finally ran into Hades again last night.”

Eros gasped, “tell me everything!”

She filled him in on the night, from the conversation’s he’d had with his brothers to the weird, ‘almost moment’ they shared later on.

Eros hummed thoughtfully when she’d finished speaking, “maybe he wants to do this right? Like, make sure both of you are sober and on the same page?”

Persephone bit her lip, “you think?”

Eros nodded, “you did say he was a gentleman, opening doors and the like,” she nodded in agreement, “so maybe he’s old fashioned, you know, wine and dine, the whole nine yards.”

“So you think he’ll ask me out on a date?” She asked, her eyes glazing over just thinking about it.

“He practically told his brother’s that he had dibs on you, that’s a pretty good indicator, but give him your number the next time you see him anyway, let him know you’re interested.”

She nodded, “I think I will.”

Eros smirked, “good, Psyche keeps asking me about the possibility of a double date and I don’t want to let her down.”

Persephone rolled her eyes, “and my happiness has nothing to with it?”

Eros looked up, like he was thinking it over, “well I suppose, now you mention it...”

She reached across and hit him on the shoulder, “lies! you care and just want the best for me.”

Eros caught her hand and nearly dragged her across the table, “you can’t say things like that, it will ruin my reputation.”

She giggled, “what reputation?”

Eros let her go and gasped dramatically, “hurtful stuff Persephone.”

She took his hand again, letting her eyes widen to her ‘puppy dog’ stare as Eros called it, “I’m so sorry to hurt your feelings Eros, whatever can I do to make it up to you?”

He rolled his eyes at her, but something behind her seemed to catch his attention. He put both hands on the table and held both of hers, he leaned in closer, “Persephone,” he whispered. “How would you describe your eye candy again?”

Persephone frowned and whispered back, “well over six foot, white hair, olive skin, dark eyes...”

“Rocks a suit like nobody’s business?” Eros asked.

Persephone felt a prickle on the back of her neck, like someone was looking at her. She swallowed, “yes, why?”

Eros let out a startled breath and looked over her shoulder again, “I think he’s stood by the counter. He’s been there for a few minutes now and keeps looking at you. He looks kinda mad to me.”

Persephone felt her eyes widen and bit her lip, “what do I do?”

Eros sent her his patented are you crazy girl look, and hissed “um, you get up, go over there and climb that man like a tree.” 

“I can’t do that,” she hissed.

“The hell you can’t! Just get up and speak to him!” He whispered back.

“I can’t!”

Eros looked down and smirked, “sorry in advance.”

“What?” Persephone asked, but the lukewarm remains of Eros’ coffee was already spilling across the table and directly onto her dress.

She jumped up and squeaked, “Eros!”

“Oh I’m so sorry,” he said, completely unapologetically, “I think there are some napkins over there.” 

He pointed in the direction of the counter and Persephone just stared at him for a second before laughing and shaking her head. “Well played,” she whispered as she walked away. 

She looked towards the counter and could see that Hades was indeed stood in the waiting area, but he wasn’t alone.

His brothers were on either side of him, and Persephone groaned, she didn't want an audience if he was going to turn her down. She especially didn't want it to be in front of them, as Hades would probably only take her number because he would feel obligated to after their conversation last night.

Hades glanced in her table’s direction and then his eyes snapped to her, quickly darting down as he noticed her stained dress.

He stepped forward and grabbed a handful of napkins as she walked up to the counter.

“Thank you” she mumbled as she accepted the napkins.

He smiled and looked like he was going to say something when one of his brothers interrupted “hey, Laundry Girl!”

Persephone laughed and continued dabbing at her dress, “well hopefully that nickname won’t stick.”

“Well, our brother didn’t introduce us last night,” the other brother smiled, “an oversight I’m sure.”

Hades sent him a cold stare and Persephone tried to shake off the weird vibes they were giving out, “well I’m Persephone, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Zeus,” he replied, holding his hand out.

She shook it out of politeness more than anything, she didn't know why but he gave her the creeps.

“Poseidon,” the other brother replied, smiling between her and Hades, “so it looks like you’ll need to do laundry again sooner than you thought.”

She looked down at her dress and frowned as the napkins seemed to be doing nothing to help the large stain, “it looks like it.”

She sent a quick glare over her shoulder at Eros who was openly watching the show.

She heard their names being called from the counter as their coffee was ready.

“Maybe the shorts and bikini will make another appearance.” Zeus said, slipping into Greek like it was a second skin, “Please let the bikini make another appearance.”

“Enough,” Hades snapped, also slipping into Greek.

She looked between them curiously, she appreciated Hades defending her but she couldn’t work out why there was so much animosity between the brothers to start with.

“Sorry about my brothers,” Poseidon said, nervously playing with his takeaway cup, “they’re just too hungover from last night.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she looked at Hades, but addressed Poseidon, “I just hope they’re aren’t saying anything too bad?”

Hades blushed, “no, sorry, Zeus was just saying that it might need dry cleaning.”

Zeus nodded along with him and Persephone bit her lip to keep from laughing at them all.

“Persie?” Eros said from behind her, she turned and he was holding her bag out to her.

“Oh thank you Eros,” she threw the napkins in the bin and took her bag, “let me introduce you, this is Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.” She pointed to each of them in turn, “Hades lives in my building.”

He reached out to shake the brothers’ hands and for some reason the three seem to have straightened their posture so they were towering over Persephone and Eros.

“I’m Eros, it’s nice to meet you all,” Eros said, “sorry Persephone but I have to run, I’ll see you in the week though?”

“Of course, but it’s your turn to cook,” she teased, knowing full well that if Psyche left him alone in the kitchen they would be searching for a new apartment within the week.

“Sure thing,” he rolled his eyes and leaned in for a quick hug before rushing out of the shop.

She turned back to the trio to see three sets of eyes assessing her, she looked down at her outfit and remembered the coffee.

“Oh sugar snaps,” she muttered. Persephone looked up at the men who were still looking at her through slightly narrowed eyes, “sorry, I’m going to have to run as well, I have a few errands that won’t do themselves. It was nice meeting you though!”

“Yes it was,” Poseidon said, smiling wide.

She pulled her bag up onto her shoulder and took a step backwards.

“Wait, you shouldn’t-“ Hades cut himself off, “do you want to borrow my jacket?”

She looked down at her dress and bit her lip, “I shouldn’t really...”

“Please,” Hades said, setting his coffee down on the counter and taking his jacket off, “I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

He held the jacket out between them and Persephone waited a second before reaching out to take it.

“Thank you,” she murmured, placing her bag on the floor to quickly put the blazer on.

It was longer than her dress and when buttoned it up it almost looked like a dress itself. 

Poseidon muttered “bold move brother” under his breath in Greek, so quietly she nearly didn't catch it.

She ignored him and smiled up at Hades and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts because he just kept staring at her for a few minutes.

As she lifted her bag back onto her shoulder she felt something hard in the breast pocket and reached her hand in to see what it was. When her hand closed around his phone she suddenly had an idea. 

She held it out to him, “unlock it please.”

Hades frowned but unlocked his phone and handed it back to her, she quickly found his contacts and put her number in. She hesitated over the photo icon before decided to take a risk, she held the camera out quickly and snapped a quick selfie to complete her contact details.

“Now you don't have to worry that I’ll keep your jacket forever,” she handed the phone back, “you even have a picture to show the authorities.”

He smiled, “well the thought did cross my mind.”

She laughed and shook her head.

She leaned towards him and put a hand on his forearm, “text me... whenever I guess, and I’ll see you around.”

She glanced at his brothers out of the corner of her eye and saw them both staring at her with open mouths.

Persephone turned on her heel and walked across the shop, stilling feeling their eyes on her back the whole way.

The sensation only stopped when she heard the door swing shut behind her and the noise of the street flooded her ears.

*****

Persephone hung the jacket up straight away when she got in, not wanting it to crease. 

She stepped back and looked at the new addition to her wardrobe, it stuck out like a sore thumb being the only black thing there. She couldn’t help but wonder what Hades’ wardrobe would look like, if he owned any colours other than black and white. 

She stripped out of her ruined dress and threw it into her washing basket, quickly changing into a pale pink tracksuit.

She walked back into the kitchen and resolutely ignored her handbag, going for the shopping bags instead.

She unpacked her groceries, originally she thought she would need to go home and change, but with Hades’ jacket she felt justified in nipping to the stores to grab some food.

When she was done she turned and opened her bag, finally fishing her phone out and checking it.

She’d thought she felt it vibrate a few times when she was shopping, but she didn't want to distract herself in the store. 

Now she could check her messages in the safety of her own home she could see that she had two messages from Eros and one from an unknown number.

She ignored the unknown number for now and opened up Eros’ text thread.

He apologised again and let her know that Psyche wasn’t feeling well, which is why he needed to leave in a rush earlier. Then there was another text later to ask what happened after he had left.

She sent a quick text saying that he had offered his jacket and she had given him her number.

Then she changed to the other text thread, the message was simple.

**It was nice seeing you this morning, I 

hope you managed to do all your errands**

She smiled, he was even formal over text. She saved the number and replied.

**I did thank you, how was the rest of your day?**

**Pretty boring, took my dogs for a walk

 and did some shopping**

**Dogs? Plural? Am I hearing this correctly?**

**Yes, I have seven**

Persephone read that and waited a few minutes. She stood and started preparing the food for her dinner so she wouldn’t just be staring at her phone. 

When she realised that she had spent more time tapping the knife against the cutting board than actually chopping the vegetables she gave up and texted back.

**Well?**

**What?**

**Aren’t you going to send me some

 pictures? Introduce me?**

**I could but I have so many it would 

be easier to just show you**

Persephone bit her lip again, wondering if she was being too forward, but sent the text anyway.

**Well I’d be honoured, name the time and place**

The response took a little longer to come through and Persephone returned to her chopping board. She was washing the knife when her phone finally buzzed.

**My schedule is full this week, but 

 the week after?**

Persephone smiled and jumped around her kitchen for a minute before texting back.

**That sounds perfect!**

*****

With the possibility of a maybe date looming Persephone realised it had been three weeks since she last dyed her hair and she couldn’t ignore her growing roots anymore. 

She used to go to a hair salon two streets away from her mother’s house to have it dyed, but she didn’t want to make the trip out just for an hour in the chair. The journey alone would take double that and it would only be an opportunity for her mother to try and convince her to come back home permanently.

She wanted to ask Psyche, but the last time she’d gone to their apartment she had been complaining about the amount of work she had to do and Persephone didn't want to guilt her into it when she was already so busy. Especially now since she knew that she was feeling under the weather right now.

Unfortunately that left Eros. The first and only time he had done it he had constantly pulled her hair when putting the dye on and had scalded her with the hot water over her bath. Her scalp had been sensitive for days and she had resolved to never ask him again.

But desperate times called for desperate measures.

She texted him when she was in class and he had agreed enthusiastically, he had even offered to go and pick the dye up from the drugstore. She was running a little late from classes so she agreed and said she would be waiting in the lobby for him.

He was waiting for her instead, a little blue bag in his hands and a smirk on his face.

“Are you ready to have your mind blown?” He asked as he pushed the call button.

Persephone could feel someone join the queue behind them but didn't turn around, “as long as you aren’t as rough as you were last time.”

Eros sniffed, “I think you were just overreacting.”

The elevator doors opened and they stepped in, “Eros, I was in pain for days.”

Persephone turned and Hades joined them in the elevator, he sent a small smile her way and then went back to scrolling on his phone.

Eros rolled his eyes, “yes, but I’ve been practising, it’s all in the technique I think.”

“Or maybe,” she teased, “this is an area in which you need some direction. Anyway, do you have everything?”

She tried to tug the bag out of his hands but he held it out of her reach, “of course I do, but we’ll need an old towel as well, just to keep the mess to a minimum.”

She nodded, “okay, I still have the one we used last time, I washed it but I couldn’t get the stains out.” She took a breath, “I guess it’s too late to cancel now?”

Eros laughed, “of course it is, you have no choice now, we’re doing this no matter what, and you know you need it.”

Persephone rolled her eyes and caught sight of Hades behind Eros’ head.

His face was twisted in pure rage and he was holding onto his phone so tightly that his knuckles were practically white. He seemed to be taking controlled breaths through his nose and was staring resolutely ahead.

Persephone bit her lip and nudged Eros as the doors opened, he also glanced around and looked surprised as he noticed Hades’ body language.

He wasn’t as bothered by it as she was and just shrugged and walked down the corridor, but Persephone couldn’t help but look back as the doors closed and could see him staring worriedly after them.

She unlocked her door and looked at Eros, “that was weird right?”

Eros shrugged, “he seems like he has a serious job, maybe he just got some bad news.”

“Yeah,” Persephone bit her lip and tried to think of anything she said that could have made him angry.

“Don’t worry about it,” Eros said, setting the bag down on her kitchen counter, “now, I’ve been washing Psyche’s hair in the shower and she agrees that you’re in good hands. Go and change into something old and get ready for the best hour of your life.”

He snapped one the plastic gloves and wiggled his fingers in her direction and Persephone couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“How does Psyche put up with you?” She called as she walked towards her bedroom.

“With lots of wine apparently!” He called back.

*****

Persephone was walking into the building the very next day when she spotted a familiar figure leaning by the elevator, call button already lit and waiting.

Poseidon was wearing jeans and a tank top today and smiled when he saw her, he nudged the women next to him who was also wearing a tank top and jeans. 

Her arms were covered in tattoos and Persephone couldn’t help but stare and admire the ink. There were swirling patterns running up her arms and covered her shoulder like a shawl, it all seemed to be in black and white but for some reason in the light of the lobby it seemed like there was a green undertone. 

“Hey, Laundry Girl!” Poseidon greeted her.

Persephone noticed the woman’s eyes assessing her as she walked over and she was grateful that she had put a little effort in for her classes today. She’d gone with a skin tight white dress that came to a halter at the top and fell to just above her knees. She’d stuck to her usual white heels and swapped her pink shoulder bag for a white back pack.

“You know it’s Persephone,” she shot to Poseidon and turned back to the woman, “I’m sorry, I know I’m staring but your tattoos are beautiful.”

The woman threw her head back and laughed, exposing the tattoos on the side of her neck and sending her dark hair over her shoulders, exposing even more skin.

“Look all you want,” she said kindly, “I didn’t get them to hide them away, I’m Amphitrite, Poseidon’s wife.”

Persephone looked at Poseidon in surprise, not realising that he was married. He was staring at his wife with a content expression and Persephone couldn’t help but feel like she was intruding on their moment.

The ding of the elevator brought the couple back out of their thoughts and they all stepped inside.

Persephone pressed the button for her floor, and noticed that neither Poseidon nor Amphitrite made a move to press one.

“What floor?” she asked over her shoulder. 

“We’re visiting Hades today,” Poseidon said, as if that made any sense to her.

Persephone waited a second for an explanation and the doors slid closed.

Persephone was trying to think back on the times she’d been in the elevator with Hades and couldn’t think of a single time he’d put his floor number in. Maybe he was private and didn’t want her know? She thought, deflating a little at the idea.

“He’s in the penthouse,” Amphitrite said, seeming to read the confused look on Persephone’s face correctly, “you need to put a code in and it will take you straight up.”

Poseidon looked at Persephone in surprise, “yeah, it would bypass your floor completely, I didn't realise you didn't know, you seemed like you were getting close the other day.”

Persephone could feel the blush overtaking her face as she thought back to the other day at the coffee shop, “no, he didn’t mention it.”

“She’s so precious,” Amphitrite said quietly. 

Persephone swore that if one more person got in this elevator and started speaking Greek she was going to scream.

“I know, you should see Hades with her,” Poseidon cooed.

Amphitrite snorted, “I can imagine, I bet she hasn’t had to touch a door handle in his presence at all.”

They both laughed and Persephone tried to keep a blank face and kept looking forward. 

She slid her backpack from her shoulders at the elevator approached her floor. She bent over slightly, trying to reach her keys which had fallen to the bottom of the bag. She was still trying to free them from under one of her folders when she heard Amphitrite suck in a quick breath.

“Are you sure Hades has called dibs?” She said, her voice a little rough. “Because you know I-“

“I know,” Poseidon agreed cutting her off, “but he’s already snapped at Zeus like five times over that.” There was a pause and then- “Stop staring at her ass Trite.”

Persephone finally freed the keys and stood up straight, trying to block out the noise of Amphitrite grumbling. 

The doors opened and she darted from the cubicle quickly. She shouted her goodbye over her shoulder, scared that if she looked at them they’d see the bright red blush on her face.

She tried to ignore the feeling of being watched as she walked down the hallway, but she couldn’t ignore the whistle that rang through the empty hall just before the elevator doors closed.

*****

Persephone ran into Hades the next morning. She had called out a cheery ‘good morning’ as she stepped into the elevator, completely missing the little white headphones he had in.

He was frowning when the doors opened but he seemed to relax his face a little when he noticed it was her. He gestured to the headphones but still mouthed ‘good morning’ to her.

Persephone smiled and resisted the urge to take her phone out of her bag to mess around on. She couldn’t help but notice the lack of elevator music as the doors closed and it just made Hades’ conversation that much harder to ignore. 

She didn't know if he always spoke to his brothers in Greek but he definitely was now.

“It was Persephone if you must know, can we get back to the point Zeus?”

“No, I thought we were discussing your failure of a love life, not mine?”

Persephone bit her lip to hide the grin at his irritated tone, and then she had an idea that even Eros would be proud of. If it was good enough for Elle Woods...

She reached into her shoulder bag and pulled her phone out, she let it get halfway out before loosening her grip and letting it fall to the floor.

She let out an exaggerated sigh and bent over to pick it up, making sure to linger as she was bent over. She held her breath as she stood up slowly, waiting for his reaction.

He didn't disappointed.

“Oh gods,” he groaned, “she’s going to be the death of me.”

She snuck a glance at Hades out of the corner of her eye and he seemed to be staring resolutely ahead. His hands were clenched into fists at his side.

“She dropped her phone and bent- stop laughing Zeus, this isn’t funny,” he hissed down the phone.

The doors opened to the lobby and Persephone smiled up at him before exiting first. She walked slowly across the floor, giving Hades time to catch up if he wanted to.

She heard him quickly saying goodbye to his brother and then his quick footsteps as he caught up with her.

“Sorry, that was my brother,” he said quickly, removing his headphones and shoving them into his pockets, “good morning, how are you?”

She smiled up at him, “don't worry about it, I’m good, I only have a few classes today so it’s a chill day for me. How are you?”

“I’m good,” he smiled back and reached in front of her to open the main door, “just a little busy with work.”

He ran a hand through his hair and Persephone couldn’t help but smile at the way it flopped in front of his face.

“Is that normal for you?” she wondered.

“Absolutely not,” he said quickly, “we just have a few special projects coming up. I usually get more free time than this, you know, evenings and weekends.”

Persephone smiled, “you shouldn’t flash your free time around like that,” she warned, “someone might just take it as an invitation.”

“Please do.”

He muttered it so quietly that Persephone nearly missed it. Her heartbeat stuttered for a second and she looked up at him intently, then asked, “what did you say?”

“Oh- nothing,” he said smiling nervously.

She felt the disappointment swell, realising he wasn’t going to make a move on her after all.

“Oh well,” she tucked her hair behind one ear, trying to channel all the confidence his earlier reaction to her body had given her. “If you find yourself with too much free time, you could always text me.” 

He was surprised by her suggestion, his mouth opened slightly and the stress lines around his eyes seemed to disappear for a moment, “I could?”

“Of course, I’ve been promised an introduction to your pack and I intend to hold you to that.”

“Yes, definitely,” he agreed and then looked away for a brief second, “you can- uh, that is, if you want to... text me too? Anytime at all, or not, if you don't want-”

Persephone cut him off with a smile and stepped closer, “thank you Hades, I will definitely take you up on that.”

“I- that’s great,” he smiled.

They stood there just smiling at each other for a second before Persephone realised that she was probably making him late for work. She checked the time on her phone and her eyes widened when she realised that she’d be late for class if she didn’t leave now.

“Sorry, I have to go, but I’ll text you later?”

His smiled widened, “I’ll look forward to it.”

*****

The rest of the week passed with no more embarrassing encounters in the elevator, but she did text Hades while in class. They were just small messages, asking how his day was going and what he was up to, but he seemed to appreciate them all the same.

Most of the time he was working, but he still took the time to reply and let her know he wasn’t ignoring her on purpose.

She’d told him that she understood and he shouldn’t feel the need to apologise if he was busy, but he still sent texts apologising if he didn’t reply within the hour. 

Persephone guessed he was a little nervous about this (as was she) and didn’t want to upset her.

In the week she’d learned that he worked at one of the big technology companies that was based across a few of the skyscrapers not far from their apartment building, he was apparently a good cook, and his current guilty pleasure was watching cheesy rom-coms to relax when he got home.

He didn’t mention the jacket, or meeting to get it back or to introduce her to the dogs, and Persephone didn’t bring it up again. She wanted him to make the first move on this, as even though he had agreed to it she wanted him to arrange it. Then she would feel less guilty about potentially forcing him into spending time with her.

The jacket was still hanging in her wardrobe on Saturday night when she and Eros were going through it, trying to find an acceptable outfit for a party Eros and Psyche had been invited to.

They’d insisted Persephone join them as a plus one, as it was likely going to turn into a drunken mess. It would be her first party living in the city, so she wouldn’t have to leave early. The possibility of getting drunk with everyone and not having to be the designated driver was too good to pass up.

Eros hadn’t mentioned the jacket, but as it caught her eye every time she looked at her clothes it was next to impossible that he hadn’t seen it. 

He was either that focused on the task at hand, or was waiting for the worst moment ever to bring it up to cause maximum embarrassment to Persephone. 

Whatever the case he was still rooting around trying to find something cute for her to wear when she returned to the bedroom, this time with a drink and Psyche in tow. 

There were a few dresses laid out on her bed, but as he was still looking it was clear none of these had really inspired him.

Persephone looked at Psyche and made a faux face of horror, which she laughed at.

“Eros, don’t you think we’ve got it here?” She asked, placing one dress on another so she could sit down on the bed.

“No, I know she’s got this one... it would be perfect for tonight and I can’t find it!” 

Persephone joined him at the closet.

“Which one is it?” She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and trying to move him out of the way.

“It’s the little boob tube white dress,” he looked at her with narrowed eyes, “the one that barely covered your ass, you didn’t throw it did you?”

He looked horrified at the very idea.

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics and moved to her drawers, pulling out the very dress he’d described, “I didn't, but only because I thought it would make a nice top. It’s too short to wear alone.”

“Like hell it is!” He pulled the dress out of her hands and propped it against her body, trying to see where it would lie, “see, it’s fine, go it it on.”

He clapped his hands and starting picking dresses up from the bed and hanging them back, as if it were decided.

Persephone looked to Psyche for help but she just shrugged and mouthed ‘go with it’, so she turned and walked into her bathroom to get changed.

When she emerged she was pretty sure she would be arrested for public indecency in her own home. She moved to the full length mirror to see if it would look better in this lighting but it was still as obscene as it was in the bathroom.

The small white dress barely covered her ass, and when she pulled it down to give her more coverage it nearly popped straight over her chest and let everything hang free.

“Eros, there’s no way I can wear this,” she moaned. 

She tugged the top a little higher and found a very precarious middle ground, her cleavage was still obscene and her ass was only just covered, but at least nothing was actually showing.

She turned and checked her ass one more time before turning to the couple who had been staring at her.

“I don't think I can-“

“Persephone,” Psyche cut across her, “I’m straight.”

Persephone nodded in confusion, she already knew this.

“But,” Psyche continued, “you are about an eleven out of ten right now.”

Persephone blushed and looked back to the mirror, “but isn’t it too revealing?”

Eros snorted, “there’s no such thing.”

“Maybe,” Persephone thought it over, “maybe if I took a jacket?”

Psyche sat up straight and clapped, “does this mean we can finally talk about Hades’ jacket? Which is still in your closet? Completely ruining your current aesthetic by the way.”

Persephone lifted an arm and rubbed the back of her neck, “yeah, he just hasn’t asked for it back yet.”

“And you haven’t brought it up why?” Eros raised an eyebrow.

“Because,” she took a deep breath, “so far I’ve done all the suggesting and I don't want him to just be going along with it all because he’s too polite to hurt my feelings.”

The couple stared at her in horror before Psyche took a large drink form her wine and said “but that’s rubbish, we know he likes you!”

“I know,” Persephone covered her eyes for a moment, “I just want some reciprocation, that’s all. I gave him my number and practically demanded he take me on a date and he’s not done anything in return.”

Eros sighed, “that’s fair, Persie, I just hope he pulls his head out of his ass soon.”

“Maybe if we run into him tonight he will,” Psyche smirked, looking Persephone over, “even if it’s only so he can look at yours.”

Persephone blushed and quickly finished her drink, “are we going to drink or just sit here talking about my ass in this dress?” 

Eros stood up, “that’s more like it! Let’s go ladies,” He held an arm out to each of them and stopped Persephone before she could go back to the wardrobe. “Not a chance, you’re not covering this up.”

She sighed and tucked herself into his shoulder, “fine, lets go.”

*****

The elevator was empty when it arrived on their floor, and Eros seemed to deflate a little when he saw this. 

They’d stayed in the apartment for another few drinks which Eros had insisted on, wanting to be at least halfway to drunk before he even left the building. Persephone had thought this was because he didn’t trust the alcohol at the party, now she was starting to suspect he had an ulterior motive for getting her drunk before she even left her place.

Persephone looked up at him and rolled her eyes, “what did you expect? He’d be there, see me and jump me?”

Psyche smirked, “well, an elevator is always exciting for a quickie.”

Persephone wrinkled her nose and stepped into the elevator after them, trying to erase the unwelcome image that put in her head, “you two disgust me.”

Eros wrapped an arms around her shoulders “lies, you love us.”

“No, I don't!” Persephone sang, struggling to get out from under his arm. She tried to pry him off, but her free hand was full with her white clutch, currently holding her phone and keys, so she didn't have a lot to work with.

Psyche claimed her other shoulder, effectively trapping her between them. “You dooooo!” She sang back.

Persephone stopped trying to escape, knowing it was easier to just relax and go along with it. She’d never admit it, but their easy closeness was something she really enjoyed, it reminded her of home and the other girls she’d grown up with on the farm.

It was especially comforting now as she was already feeling dizzy before getting in the elevator, that, paired alongside the movement of the elevator, was having disastrous effects on her balance.

“You might not be the worst,” she sniffed, faking annoyance. 

“Aww,” Psyche leaned in and kissed her cheek, “we love you too shorty!”

Persephone looked up at the two of them, still towering over her like she wasn’t wearing five inch heels. 

“I take it all back,” she managed to push out from under their arms as the doors opened. She nearly fell forward, through the doors but managed to right herself at the last second.

She felt an arm reach out to help her back up and when she looked up she was looking into Amphitrite’s eyes. 

“Is everything okay here?” Poseidon asked from behind his wife, his usual carefree tone was strangely absent.

Persephone realised what it must have looked like and blushed, “yes, sorry, we were just have a joke.”

The couple still didn't look all that convinced and Persephone stepped to one side so Psyche and Eros could get out of the elevator. To her surprise Poseidon and Amphitrite followed her, ignoring the open elevator they had clearly been waiting for.

“It didn’t look very funny to me,” Amphitrite said gently, running a hand up Persephone’s arm.

“I’m just really clumsy, and I maybe, might have had a few drinks already,” Persephone confessed, her voice trailing off at the end and not meeting the other woman’s eye. Amphitrite already made her feel like a stupid little girl and she didn't want to see any judgement there.

She just laughed, “well I’m not going to fault you for that! God knows I need one right now.”

She shook the bag she was holding and Persephone smiled as she heard a clink of glass on glass.

“Are these your friends?” She said, turning to Eros and Psyche while wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Persephone couldn’t help but feel comforted with the protective gesture, and she couldn’t ignore the similarities between Amphitrite and Eros.

“Yes, let me introduce you! This is Psyche, we went to university together.” 

“We met on the first day,” Psyche interrupted, “the only two girls in a sea of biochem students.”

Persephone giggled, “I don't know how I would’ve survived without her.”

Psyche blushed and the two girls giggled at each other, still more than a little tipsy.

Eros let out a loud ‘ahem’ and Persephone turned to him.

“And that’s Eros, the most annoying man on the planet.”

Poseidon let out a loud laugh at that, shooting Amphitrite a meaningful look that Persephone had no chance of decoding.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, I’m Amphitrite and this is my husband Poseidon” Amphitrite said in her steady voice, she turned Persephone around to face her, putting a hand on each shoulder and bending down a little. “Are you going out?”

Persephone nodded, sensing the real question under that, “we’re going to a party.”

“Yes we are,” Eros interrupted, “it’s going to be the first one where Persephone can have a drink instead of ditching early and driving home.”

Poseidon smiled, “well have fun kiddo.” He sent her a mock salute and Persephone couldn’t help but giggle at him.

“I’m sure I will, are you visiting H-Hades?” She felt her face flame as she stuttered over his name but she tried to push through it.

“Adorable,” Amphitrite murmured, Persephone ignored it as usual.

Poseidon smirked in his wife’s direction, “we are, he’s staying in tonight so we’re just going to have a few drinks with him to catch up before we go out.”

Persephone nodded, “that sounds nice.”

Amphitrite smirked and sent a taunting look Eros’ way before looking back to Persephone, “yes, he’ll be in all night, so if you need anything I believe you have his number?”

Persephone hugged her clutch bag to her chest and whispered, “I do, but I wouldn’t want to bother him.”

“You won’t, text him if you need anything, call him if it’s urgent.” 

“You’re better at flirting with her than he is,” Poseidon laughed at her.

“Well someone has to do it for him,” Amphitrite replied, clearly not willing to take any of his shit right now.

Eros let out a noise of confusion and Persephone looked at him, “they do this a lot, you get used to it.”

Amphitrite laughed and let go of Persephone’s shoulders and then looked her over for the first time, “it’s cold out there, don’t you have a jacket?”

Persephone rolled her eyes, “apparently I’m not allowed one,” she sent a scathing look towards Eros, “it will ‘cover the assets’.”

Amphitrite frowned a little, like she didn’t like that answer but didn't push it.

“Well, have fun tonight,” she said, then she took a step back and looked at them all, “look out for each other.”

The authority in her voice washed over them and Persephone could see Psyche and Eros nodding with her out of the corner of her eyes.

Poseidon grabbed her hand and pulled her to the elevator, “see you later maybe!”

“Yeah, see you!” Persephone called and then bit her lip, “can you... tell Hades that I said hi?”

They both smirked at her at the same time, “of course we will.”

The doors closed and Eros clapped his hands, “you are definitely texting him later!”

Persephone blushed and shook her head, “I can’t, what if I wake him up?” Psyche linked her left arms and they started walking towards the door, “what if I annoy him?” She gasped, “what if he replies?!”

Psyche laughed gently, letting Eros hold the door open for them “he’ll be expecting something now, I can’t imagine those two wouldn’t tell him that they ran into you.”

Persephone bit her lip, “that’s true.” She gasped as she stepped outside and the cold air hit her, she really should’ve grabbed something to cover up, especially if she was still feeling the chill through the buzz of alcohol.

Psyche rubbed her arm in sympathy, her own dress was covering the tops of her arms at least, and it fell a full two inches longer than Persephone’s.

“What were they saying anyway?” Eros asked, and then clarified, “when they went all sexy and bilingual?”

“Just something about Amphitrite being better at flirting with me than Hades.”

Eros nodded, “you’re definitely sending him a text later then, especially since they went to the trouble of setting it up for him.”

Persephone frowned and opened her mouth to argue but Eros cut across her.

“Come on, it’s not far, we’ll probably make it in fifteen minutes, even with those shoes,” Eros sent a dirty look towards her high heels and Persephone couldn’t help but laugh, already distracted from his previous comment.

“Eros, if I didn't wear these I would be mistaken for a child,” she easily matched their pace, all too familiar with walking a distance in her heels. “I was ID checked for paracetamol the other day.”

Eros rolled his eyes, “you have such a baby face that I’d ID check you in the heels as well.”

Persephone huffed but continued down the street, grateful that the fast pace was fighting away the cold for now.

They walked in silence for the majority of the trip, Persephone was just drinking in the quiet of the night. 

With the exception of a few cars the streets that led to Eros’ friends’ house were empty. They only met one person on their walk over, and she had been engrossed in her phone enough that she had barely registered the presence of someone else on the street. 

Strangely enough the darkness didn’t scare Persephone, she was just as comfortable walking down the streets in the dark as she was at midday. She knew the statistics and knew what sometimes happened to women when they walked alone at night (courtesy of her mothers’ 5th attempt to get her to stay at home), but she also knew that bad things can happen to people in their own homes. And besides, the darkness was comforting to her, she used to love sitting outside with the other girls at night, watching the stars. She’d learned most of the constellations off by heart by the time she was eleven, it was one of the things she’d missed most when she moved. The stars just weren’t visible from the city like they were back home.

She found herself looking up now, trying to make out the faintest hint of light through the light pollution and clouds covering the city.

Looking directly up while she was already a little tipsy probably wasn’t her best idea, but she tried to fight through the dizziness to see if she could see anything.

“Earth to Persephone,” Psyche whispered in her ear, “we’re here.”

Persephone looked at the house in front of her in surprise. It was very modern, all clean lines and glass walls, she could see the party already raging inside and hear the music through the already open door. There was a park down the street and Persephone was confused by how suburban it all seemed. It was a far cry from the city streets she’d been walking down not ten minutes.

Eros laughed, “come on, you are in danger of sobering up!”

Persephone laughed and nudged his arm, “I think I’m nowhere near that!”

Psyche tugged her through the door, “still, another drink won’t hurt you.”

Persephone nodded and Eros led them to the kitchen, greeting his friends as he passed. A few nodded to Psyche, as if they had met before but didn’t know her too well, and a few of the men leered at Persephone, their heads following her as she tried to hurry to the kitchen.

“Oh gods,” Eros said, picking up a bottle and three cups, “Aphrodite has the best taste in alcohol.”

He started making the drinks but stopped briefly as a voice cried from the door, “of course I do!”

Eros and Aphrodite greeted each other warmly and Persephone glanced nervously at Psyche to see if she was affected by their closeness.

Psyche caught the look and rolled her eyes, “honey, if I was threatened by women fawning over my boyfriend I would never have introduced you two.”

Persephone scrunched her nose up, the very thought of her and Eros together left her vaguely nauseous. He was too much like family for her to even consider it.

“That’s my girl,” Psyche laughed, “he’s just friendly with everyone, it doesn’t bother me at all, it’s just how he is. Aphrodite is practically his sister they are that close.”

Persephone nodded and reached out to take one of the drinks Eros had left on the counter, as he told Aphrodite who she was.

She took a drink and coughed a little at the burning sensation in her throat, she looked into the cup in confusion, “Eros, I think you forgot something in here.”

“What’s that?” He asked, passing a cup to Psyche and taking a sip of his own.

“A mixer?”

Aphrodite laughed, “of course he hasn’t,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “you’re here for a good time right?”

Persephone laughed, “gods I hope so.”

“I’m hoping so too,” another voice chimed in from behind Aphrodite.

“Ares!” The woman squeaked, turning around and greeting the newcomer by throwing her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist. 

Persephone blushed and looked away, trying to give them some privacy in the kitchen. Psyche just smirked at Eros, as if she was used to this behaviour from his friend.

“Ares,” Aphrodite said, untangling herself and dropping her legs to the floor, “this is Eros and Psyche’s friend, Persephone. Be nice to her.”

Ares sent her a hurt look, “when am I not nice?”

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes, “you have a way of riling people up, don’t even think about it tonight.”

He sighed and smiled at her, “anything for you.”

She tapped him on the nose, and then walked back into the living room, presumably to mingle with the rest of her guests.

Ares tuned back to her and Persephone could help but fidget nervously under his gaze. She took another long sip of the drink in her hand and grimaced as she swallowed.

“So Eros,” he said, not taking his eyes off her, “how have you been?”

“I’m good thanks,” Eros stepped in front of Persephone, giving her a small reprieve from the older man’s piercing stare, “now, please stop freaking Persephone out, she’s too polite to say anything but I sure will.”

Ares held his hands up in surrender and smiled at her kindly when she poked her head around Eros’ arm.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t do something just because I think it’s amusing,” he acquiesced.

Eros hummed and grabbed Psyche’s hand, pulling her to the door, “we’re going to dance, do you want to join us?” He directed the question towards Persephone.

She didn't really feel like going out into the crowed living area, she hadn’t enjoyed the attention she had got when she was just walking through, she didn't want to think about staying there for any amount of time.

“I’ll stay here with her,” Ares offered, “I don't really like these things anyway.”

Persephone looked at him sceptically, “you don’t like parties?”

“Sorry,” he clarified, “I don't like parties where I’ve been expressly forbidden from winding people up.”

Persephone looked at Eros and nodded, he smiled wide and sent a cheeky wink her way before leaving. 

Psyche called out, “let us know if your eye candy messages you!” Before also disappearing around the doorframe.

Persephone blushed and could hear Ares sniggering next to her.

“Eye candy?” He asked teasingly.

She sighed and closed her eyes for a second, “you’re going to need to get me way more drunk than this if you want to hear about it.”

He smirked in reply, “that sounds like a challenge.”

Ares took her empty cup and started opening bottles on the table, Persephone didn't pay attention too closely. 

Surprisingly she didn't feel unsafe with Ares, he seemed more the type to enjoy chaos and meddling in people’s lives than actually harming them in any way.

She watched him as he moved about the kitchen, he was handsome in a traditional way. The muscles on his arms were on show, and the white vest he was wearing was doing little to hide his abs as well. His grey sweatpants hung low on his hips and Persephone didn’t let her eyes linger too long on them, knowing what Eros always said about those kinds of pants.

He walked around the counter and handed her the drink, “try this.”

She looked at it nervously, but it couldn’t be worse than the drink Eros had made her.

It surprised her from the first sip, it tasted more like a fruity soda than any type of alcohol. She looked at him through narrowed eyes, “is there even alcohol in this?”

He laughed, “of course there is, it’s just well hidden.”

Persephone shrugged and took another sip, “so how do you know Aphrodite?”

“She’s my girlfriend,” he replied plainly, taking a drink from his own cup.

“Oh,” Persephone said and pursed her lips, not quite knowing what to say. From the little she did know about Aphrodite she was a social media influencer and was quite open about all aspects of her life online. Even Eros had blushed as he had to explain to her what an Only Fans account was, and he hadn’t even gone into details about the type of content Aphrodite made. 

Ares looked like he was holding in laughter, “we’re not exclusive or anything, and I don't have any issues with her work, if that’s what you’re worrying about.”

Persephone could only nod, trying to ignore the heat she could feel spilling across her face.

“So what do you do?” She asked, trying to make some conversation.

“I’m a personal trainer at a gym,” he shrugged.

Persephone laughed, nodding to his arms, “of course you are.”

A man around Ares’ age entered the kitchen then and nodded to him in greeting, he looked Persephone over and sent her a cheeky wink that made every exposed inch of her skin crawl. She tried to channel her inner bitch and she returned his look with an eyebrow raise and a displeased purse of her lips.

She looked back to Ares but he had moved closer, he leaned in further still and whispered in her ear, “does that mean you are admiring my arms?”

Persephone shot a nervous look towards the stranger in the room but he was looking more awkward than her if possible, pouring his drink quickly and looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. He left without saying a word.

Persephone turned back to Ares, “did you do that because he made me uncomfortable?”

Ares shrugged and leaned back, clearly not going to admit to anything.

Persephone relented and answered his question, “your arms are impossible to miss.”

He smirked and flexed his muscles for her, running through a few poses that made her laugh.

“So they’re all for show then?” She teased.

“Of course not, it’s so I can sweep the ladies off their feet,” he pouted and Persephone laughed at him.

“Of course you do.”

“Don't believe me?” He stepped closer, “let me demonstrate.”

Before she could even contemplate what was happening he had an arm under her knees and was lifting her into a bridal carry. She squeaked in surprise as he spun her around, the alcohol in her system only adding to her disorientation. She leaned her head back in his arms and let her hair fan out as she spun, giggling the whole time.

He finally stopped spinning and placed her delicately onto one of the counters, she was still giggling a few minutes later as her head still spun.

“You really are too precious,” Ares said, playing with a bit of her hair, “so tell me, who is this mysterious person who has you all hung up?”

Persephone looked down at her drink and threw the rest of it back, “ugh, his name is Hades and he’s the sweetest.”

Ares took the cup from her and started making her another drink, “sweetest eh? Is that your type?”

Persephone opened her mouth to answer but closed it when another couple joined them in the kitchen.

She smiled and made small talk until they had refilled their drinks and quickly vacated the kitchen, throwing a nervous glance at Ares as they left.

“So,” he turned back to her as if nothing had happened, “your type?”

“I don't really have one,” she tossed her hair over her shoulder so it was all running down her back, “he’s just everything I would want in a man.”

Ares looked at her expectedly, “which is?”

“He’s funny, and kind, he’s got dogs, and stands up for me, even when he thinks I don't know,” she surprised herself by downing her drink again, “and he’s like two feet taller than me and his voice literally gives me chills, and his hands! Gods, his hands,” she stared off into space for moment, trying to banish the thought of his strong hands roaming her skin.

Ares whistled, “sounds like you’re pretty gone on him.”

“I hardly know him!” Persephone laughed at how foolish she sounded, taking her cup back from Ares, wondering when he’d had the chance to refill it, “we’ve talked maybe five times and I’m sure he thinks I’m just a silly little girl.”

“Hey now, I’m sure he doesn’t” Ares said, sounding a little defensive, then he seemed to remember what Psyche said earlier, “isn't he supposed to be texting you tonight?”

“Not exactly,” she took another sip, and explained how she had ran into Poseidon and Amphitrite earlier.

He hummed thoughtfully, “it sounds like they want you to message him.”

“I can’t exactly message him out of the blue and say ‘hey Hades, I’m at a house party, come get some big boy’”.

Ares’ face twisted in laughter, “‘big boy’?”

“Shut up,” she slapped his shoulder, it was a testament to how drunk she was that she hadn’t even blushed.

“Why can’t you do exactly that?” Aphrodite asked from the door.

She sauntered across the room to them, her hips moving hypnotically. Persephone felt her throat dry up, “I’m not beautiful or confident like you,” she said quietly, surprising even herself with her honesty, “I’m just nervous around him.”

Aphrodite leaned in close, putting her hands on Persephone’s bare thighs, “flattery will get you everywhere, but you can’t let this man make you nervous. You are a vision right now, and it would be an embarrassment to womankind to let a man make you feel like you are unworthy.”

Persephone’s mouth had fallen open as she looked into Aphrodite’s eyes, “you think so?”

Ares slipped another drink into her hands, “firstly, I think you need to follow Aphrodite on every possible platform, she’s very into female empowerment and you need some right now. Secondly, I think you either need to text him for help getting home, or at least take a picture of this outfit for him to see.”

Persephone nodded and took a long drink, nearly finishing it all in one, “maybe after a few more drinks?”

Aphrodite smiled and tapped her on the nose, Persephone’s eyes crossed trying to watch her finger.

“Don't tell anyone we were nice to you,” she said with quiet authority as she kissed Ares’ cheek and walked back out, grabbing a bottle of red wine as she left. 

Persephone was quiet for a while, as she sat on the counter and drank the drinks that Ares kept handing to her and played with her phone without ever opening it.

Eros and Psyche came back into the kitchen after an undetermined amount of time had passed, Persephone had no idea how long she and Ares had just been sat in silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable at all.

“There you are,” Eros said, slightly out of breath, “we’re thinking of leaving in a bit, do you want to stay longer?”

Persephone shook her head and moved to get off the counter, she looked down at her feet and realised she couldn’t judge how far from the floor she was.

“Let me help,” Ares offered, quickly picking her up and placing her on her feet, the movement made her more than a little dizzy and she quickly realised that she was a lot drunker than she first thought.

“I just need to go to the toilet and then I’ll be ready,” she told Eros, sure she was slurring some words, “where are they?”

“They’re upstairs,” Psyche looked at her in concern, “I’ll take you.” 

Persephone nodded, ignoring how that made the room spin slightly.

She put her phone on the counter and stumbled forward into Psyche’s arms, “Areeeesss,” she mumbled, “your drinks are lethal.”

He laughed and ruffled her hair, “that they are.”

She was grateful for Psyche’s help, she never would have made it to the bathroom on her own, and even in her drunk state it was raising alarm bells in her head. They were just very quiet alarm bells that couldn’t get through the haze surrounding her head.

Psyche left her to her own devices in the bathroom, but entered when Persephone insisted she needed help fixing her dress so it was decent.

Psyche laughed and helped pull it into place, “did you have a good time?” She asked gently.

“Yesss,” Persephone practically sang, “I feel great! I never would’ve been able to do this last year.”

Psyche laughed and hugged her, “I’m glad, you seem happier living on your own. More confident.”

“I am,” Persephone replied, tears shining in her eyes.

“Let’s go then”

Psyche guided her to the door and wrapped an arm around her waist as they made their way down the stairs to the kitchen.

Ares and Eros were grinning at each other when they walked back into the kitchen, but the first thing Eros did was push a pint of water into Persephone’s hands.

Then he put her phone in her bag that was lying on the counter, “I don't think you’re going to make the walk back,” he said seriously.

Persephone frowned at him over the glass she was valiantly trying to down in one, “come on, I’ll be okay.”

Eros shook his head, “I’ve called an Uber for you, they’ll be here in about ten minutes, we can wait with you if you want?”

Psyche frowned, “Eros, we can’t just let her get into an Uber on her own.”

Eros widened his eyes at her and opened his arms, “come here baby,” he crooned.

Psyche let Persephone go, Ares quickly supporting her in the other woman’s absence. Psyche stepped closer to Eros and he seemed to be kissing her on her neck, Persephone looked away when it looked like her was nibbling on her ear.

“Geez, get a room guys,” she muttered, still taking long pulls from her water.

Ares laughed and ruffled Persephone’s hair again, “do you want to sit on the counter again?”

She let her head fall back, the alcohol making it seem like it was heavier than it was, and looked at him, “yes please, muscles.”

“Muscles, eh?” He smirked, quickly reaching down and lifting her onto the counter, “good to know they’re getting appreciated.”

Persephone took that as an invitation to reach out and grab his arm, she squeezed it a little and frowned when it seemed to be completely solid.

Psyche laughed and called to her from across the room, “Persephone, will you be okay if we leave you with Ares?”

Persephone looked at them, “of course! You live closer anyway, I’ll get myself home.”

Eros rolled his eyes, “remember you’ve got an Uber coming, so don't worry about it,” he shared a meaningful look with Ares and then looked back at her with a strangely serious look. “You’ll know the driver so don’t leave with anyone you don't know.”

Ares nodded, “I’ve got her, she’s going to have to recognise them before she leaves.”

Eros looked relieved and pressed a quick kiss to Persephone’s hairline, she complained and grabbed at him until he bent down enough for her to return the gesture.

Psyche just laughed and hugged her close, “be safe.”

“Text me when you get home safe!” Persephone called as they walked out of the kitchen, still waving at them from her perch near the toaster.

She finally finished her water and wiggled the empty glass at Ares proudly, he smiled and took the glass, quickly filling it from the tap and handing it back to her.

She frowned at the gesture but started in on the new drink regardless.

Persephone tried to drink the new glass for about five minutes before admitting defeat and setting the glass back down, still half full.

“I feel like I’m ninety nine percent water right now,” she moaned.

“You’ll thank me for it in the morning,” Ares promised, trying to lift the glass to her mouth again.

She held her mouth closed petulantly and distantly she though she heard her name being called from the other room. Ares pushed the glass into her with a little more force, laughing as he tried to convince her to drink the water. She shoved at one of his shoulders to try and get him to stop, more water was ending up down her front than down her throat at this point.

“Persephone!” A deep voice shouted from the doorway.

Persephone looked around in shock and was surprised to see Hades standing there. He seemed a little more disheveled than he had when she had seen him previously, his hair was messy and looked so soft, like he’d just run his fingers through it. His chest was heaving with the deep breaths he was taking, drawing attention to the fact that he was wearing an old university hoodie and sweatpants instead of his usual suit.

Persephone’s mouth fell open and Ares surprisingly didn’t take the chance to force more water on her. He set the glass down next to her and looked calculatingly between them.

Hades’s eyes ran up and down her body and when he was satisfied that she was okay he turned to Ares, his eyes burning with rage, “what were you trying to give her?”

Ares held his hands up, “just some water man.”

“Hades!” Persephone finally found her voice, singing his name, “this is Areeess.”

His eyes snapped back to her and he took a step into the room and Persephone finally noticed the extra body in the room.

“Oh my gods!” She squealed, already shuffling to get down off the counter.

Both men seemed to realise the potential danger and rushed forward to help her, Ares only held back after Hades sent him a dirty look.

He lifted her into his arms and instead of feeling bare skin under her legs she could feel the soft cotton of his hoodie. For some reason this felt infinitely more intimate than when Ares had done the very same thing earlier in the night.

Persephone let her head fall back again, looking at the now upside down Ares, “he’s stealing your moves,” she whispered.

Ares smirked, “he can borrow them for now.”

“Nope,” Persephone sat up in Hades’ arms, nearly smashing their heads together, “they’re all his now!”

Hades smiled gently at her, “all mine eh?”

Persephone put an arm across his shoulders and nodded seriously, the alcohol giving her the confidence she desperately needed, “all yours.”

Hades made a small noise in the back of his throat as he looked her over and set her carefully on her feet. She looked down to make sure that her dress was still covering everything and was reminded of why she needed to get down once more.

She immediately fell to her knees in front of Hades and reached out for the dog that was sitting quietly at his feet.

“Persephone-“ he tried to stop her but she just looked up at him through her eyelashes.

“Don't worry, I know what I’m doing,” she murmured, and then turned back to the dog.

She ignored the choked noise Hades made and the sniggering coming from Ares and reached out to pet the dog. She waited initially, letting the dog move closer to her hand first, then she closed the gap and finally ran her hand down the back of it’s head.

The dog responded by moving even closer and soon Persephone had both arms around it’s neck, hugging the dog to her and whispering what a good boy he was.

She heard Ares sigh wistfully and casually say, “I wish women fell to their knees in front of me.”

“Get a dog and they might,” Persephone mumbled, the noise muffled by the fact that her face was pressed into the dog’s neck.

Hades let out a quick laugh and then Persephone frowned up at him, “what are you doing here?”

He looked confused, “you texted me?”

Persephone frowned even more, “I didn't, Eros ordered an Uber for me. Do you work for Uber?”

He squatted down next to her, “Eros was here?” She nodded, “where is he now?” His voice was strangely empty of emotion and Persephone didn’t like it.

“He went home with Psyche,” she answered, not understanding what was happening.

“He left you?” He looked angry and Persephone didn't want him to be mad at her.

“I’m sorry he must’ve texted you instead, please don’t be mad, I can get myself home,” she turned back to the dog who was now trying to climb into her lap.

“Sweetness, I’m not mad at you,” he said calmly, and then stood to talk to Ares.

Persephone watched them as she absentmindedly patted the dog in her lap.

“So he just left her here?” Hades asked.

“He texted you before he left, he knew you would get her home,” Ares explained, “he said he ran into your brother tonight and he told Persephone she could rely on you.”

Hades looked at Persephone, “well of course she can, but Eros texted me?”

“Yeah,” Ares laughed, “was pretty insistent on it actually.”

Hades’ face flushed as he thought this over and then he stepped forward and held a hand out to Persephone.

“Let’s get you home then.”

She took his hand and stood, blushing the whole time as she met Ares’ eyes and he mouthed the word ‘hands’ at her. She looked down and focused on pulling her dress down gently to make sure it still covered her ass. She walked back to the counter and grabbed her small clutch, opening it quickly and making sure she had everything. She turned to Ares.

“Thank you for all the drinks.”

He reached forward and pulled her into a big bear hug, standing up straight so her feet were off the floor.

“Have fun, and make sure Eros drags you along to all our parties in future.”

“I will,” she agreed, finally back on her feet.

He ruffled her hair and pushed her shoulder gently, “now go on, I’ve got to try and pull Aphrodite away from her admirers.”

He was the first to leave the kitchen, Persephone next and Hades walked close behind her, both of his hands were resting on her shoulders and instead of finding it suffocating she found the weight comforting and reassuring. She could feel Hades’ dog by her legs, no doubt following an unspoken command to stick with them.

Aphrodite was indeed surround by her followers, she was sat on one of the tables with a large glass of red wine, her legs crossed gracefully as she leaned back across the table.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Persephone and she could see the older woman excuse herself from the table and stood up on one of the chairs before descending into the crowd.

She met them by the front door, automatically folding herself into Ares’ side, “Persephone, going already?” She turned her attention to Hades, “and who’s this?”

Persephone looked up at him, “this is Hades.”

Aphrodite openly leered at him, eyes roaming over his body and Persephone had the strangest urge to try and shield him from her.

“Very nice,” she said, as if she were reviewing a meal, “I’m glad you learned something tonight at least.”

“Yes I did, thank you for inviting me,” Persephone’s manners finally caught up with her.

“As long as you had a good time we’ll call it even,” she replied, moving to one side so they could get out the open door, “oh, and text Eros when you’re home safely!” 

Persephone raised a hand in acknowledgment and walked down the steps to the drive, doing her best to ignore the sudden chill.

The alcohol was doing a better job at fighting it off this time, but her dress was still a little damp from the water Ares had spilt down her. She crossed her arms over her chest before realising how that affected the dress, more specifically it’s ability to cover her body. She blushed to herself and tried to shake it off.

Strangely enough the cold air seemed to clear her head and she was already feeling more sober than she had all night.

“So, you haven’t technically introduced us,” she started innocently, walking slower than she had been before. 

Persephone could blame it on the alcohol or her heels, but in truth she just wanted to extend her time with Hades. He seemed content to match her slow pace and even his dog was happy to stick to her side at the practically glacial pace she was keeping.

Hades frowned, “introduce you to who?”

She nodded down at the dog that was practically trying to push her over with each step she took.

“Oh sorry,” he rolled his eyes at himself, “this is Cerberus.”

Persephone stopped and looked at the dog at her feet, “Cerberus,” she said, testing the name on her tongue.

It didn't make sense for the dog in the traditional way but when his head tilted in acknowledgement she couldn’t help but smile.

She felt a shiver run up her spine and tried to hide it as best as she could, “so, what were you doing before Eros interrupted your night?”

Hades nodded towards his dog, “I was taking Cerberus for a walk.”

She ran her hand over the dogs head and bit her lip, “sorry for dragging you away then.”

Surprisingly he laughed, “your text had me worried, I practically ran here and I think Cerberus enjoyed it too much. He’s going to expect me to run every time I walk him now.”

Persephone smiled up at him, “you ran?”

They’d slowly come to a stop in the street, he ran a hand through his hair like Persephone had thought of doing many times before, “yes, Amphitrite mentioned that she saw you earlier. I could only imagine the kinds of trouble you could get into, especially if you were dressed how she described you.”

Persephone put her hands on her hips and held her chin up, “so?”

Hades blinked, “so?”

“Does the dress live up to the hype?” She slowly turned on the spot, keeping eye contact with him as much as possible.

She could see his throat move as he swallowed, “it... exceeds all expectations.”

“Come on Hades,” she whispered, stepping closer, “you didn't even look.”

He closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again, letting them roam freely over her body.

Persephone preened under the attention, worlds away from when the boys at the party had ogled her. It was like Hades only had minutes to live and he was trying to commit every curve to memory.

She looked over him as well, his chest was moving quickly again, as if she had rendered him breathless by just standing in front of him. His eyes were darker, still moving slowly up and down her body, lingering on her chest as she took a deep breath in in surprise.

Then she finally noticed his hands. They were clenched into fists, his knuckles white with the force.

She felt a heat pool in her lower stomach, the thought that he was stopping himself from doing the very thing she had thought about earlier in the night nearly making her whimper out loud. Persephone knew he wouldn’t do anything without her express permission, and she was only too eager to give it.

“Hades,” she whispered, taking a step forward.

His eyes snapped up to meet hers, they were still for a moment before he took a step closer as well.

He slowly raised his hand to cradle her face, the same way he had done when he was drunk. Persephone leaned into the contact but kept her eyes open.

His other hand landed on her bare shoulder, his hand hot compared to her chilled skin, he slowly moved it down her arm and she shivered at the sensation. 

He frowned and stepped back, “gods, you’re freezing, here.”

He started pulling his hoodie over his head, the bottom catching on his T-shirt and pulling up a little. Persephone’s eyes were drawn to the small amount of midriff exposed and she couldn’t be sure if it was the light, but it looked like his skin was covered in small scars. They completely covered all the skin she could see and looked like lightning. 

She had raised her hand involuntarily, wanting to know if she could feel the difference if she ran her hand over his abs.

Before she could he quickly pulled his T-shirt down and handed the warm hoodie over, not meeting her eyes.

She passed him her bag as she quickly pulled the hoodie over her head. It instantly covered her with warmth and she let out a moan. It fell nearly to her knees and even though she rolled the sleeves up twice they still fell past her wrists and covered her hands.

She tucked her hair behind one ear and hugged herself, “so warm.”

She quickly covered her mouth as she yawned wide, surprised by how tired she felt. It was like the warmth had reminded her body of how exhausted she really was.

Hades let out a small chuckle, “I think that’s our cue to get you home.”

Persephone scrunched her nose up and held her hand out for her bag, “I guess so.”

Hades passed her bag back, and Persephone quickly grabbed hold of his hand and moved closer to him. She soon realised that their height difference wasn’t the best for hand holding and in her drunken determination she linked his arm instead. 

She hummed to herself when she settled against his body, practically clinging to his arm for support.

“Are you okay down there?” He asked, holding back a laugh.

“Yes, you can take me home now.”

He tentatively rested his free hand and laid it over her arm and they started walking.

Persephone’s steps were slow and sleepy, in the comfort of the hoodie she found herself sinking back into the haze around her head.

Cerberus, clearly growing tired with the new pace, was nudging behind her knees, trying to push her forward.

She shook her head, trying to fight through the tiredness she could feel crashing around her, “how far away are we?” She asked through a yawn.

Hades looked down at her nervously, “about ten minutes, maybe longer.”

Persephone just grumbled and let her head fall against his arm, “wake me when we get there.”

Hades laughed and hummed thoughtfully.

In the next second she was being upturned and her legs were being lifted from the sidewalk.

“You don't have to carry me,” she mumbled, already settling in so her head was resting on his shoulder.

“I think Cerberus would disagree with you there,” he replied, smiling wider than she had ever seen before.

Persephone smiled back, his face slightly blurring as she fought to keep her eyes open, “let me know... if I get too heavy.”

“I sincerely doubt you will sweetness,” he laughed and Persephone could feel the vibrations under her ear.

He continued on in silence for a few minutes, his arm was now bare under her knees, and the skin to skin contact seemed to burn on her chilled legs. This close she could smell his cologne, something musky and woodsy and reminded her of the forest back home.

She looked up at his face, trying to take advantage of their new closeness to commit his features to memory, evidently she was concentrating too much and he frowned down at her.

“What’s wrong?” He asked worriedly, checking over her with his eyes.

Persephone shook her head and mouthed ‘nothing’, before finally using the last burst of energy she had to reach up and run her fingers through his hair. It was as soft as she had expected it to be. She hummed and slowly dragged her finger tips across his scalp and then down his neck, leaving her hand on his shoulder. 

Persephone could feel his body heat through the thin T-shirt he was wearing and she twisted her fingers into the fabric.

The constant swaying of his steps were slowly pulling her under and she could hear his heart beating steadily, the thrum of it enough to slowly lull her into a doze.

*****

Persephone was warm when she woke, she could at least bask in the comfort as she tried to ignore the pounding in her head. She groaned and rolled over in her bed, freezing when she made contact with a second body.

She squeezed her eyes closed, not wanting to face the consequences of whatever she had done last night. She could hear heavy breaths coming from behind her, and a... a sniffing noise?

She opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder, relived to find a large black dog looking at her. She reached a hand out and stroked down the dog’s back.

She looked around the room and felt her heart rate double when she realised she wasn’t in her own room.

The layout was similar to her room, but instead of cream walls these were a dark blue. The curtains were blackout curtains so she had no idea what time it was.

She tried to remember what had happened the night before, she remembered getting to the party and talking to Ares, but somewhere along the way her memory was fuzzy and she couldn’t quite recall how she got here.

She frowned down at the dog currently lying belly up next to her, she glanced at the collar and tried to make out the name there.

Cerberus.

“Cerberus, huh?” She said, kneeling so she could get better access to his stomach. He let out a small bark and just like that it all came rushing back.

Hades in the doorway to the kitchen. Her dropping out her knees in front of him. His hoodie. Him carrying her home.

She felt her whole face burn and could only imagine what new shade of red she would be. 

She curled up and whimpered, she couldn’t believe that she had bothered him on a Saturday night! And then she fell asleep on him!

Cerberus sat up and cocked his head to one side, he moved forward and head butted her softly, trying to weasel his way back into her arms.

They finally settled with Persephone’s back to the headboard and his head in her lap as she idly stroked his head. 

She took note of the large black T-shirt she was dressed in, she could feel her dress still present underneath. From the uncomfortable tightness she could feel it had definitely rolled up in the night. She tried to fight back the thought that Hades might have seen her like that.

She looked around the room with more focus now. The floor length blackout curtains were covering one wall, the rest of the walls were strangely empty. It looked more like a hotel room than anyone’s bedroom. She looked at the rest of the bed and noticed that only her side was slept in, the other side only slightly ruffled from Cerberus, she must be in a guest room.

Or she had forced Hades to sleep on the couch.

She felt the embarrassment rising up again, she had never been that drunk before and couldn’t believe that she had made such a fool out of herself.

She finally noticed the glass of water on the bedside table, the ice still hadn’t melted yet and she was thankful for the two small white pills next to it. 

Persephone ceased her petting for a second to take the pain relief and down the pint.

She sat there for a further ten minutes, gathering her courage and waiting for the pounding in her head to fade.

When it was only a dull ache she finally stood from the bed, careful not to fall over Cerberus who had jumped down as well.

She checked the room for her bag, or her shoes, but came up empty, she must have left them somewhere else. 

She walked to the door and took a deep breath before opening it.

The corridor was painted in the same shade as the bedroom and she could see that one end had multiple doors leading off it, while the other end seemed to open up to an open space.

She crept closer to the open space, half of her hoping that Hades was already up and here, the other half hoping she could sneak out and pretend like she hadn’t ruined both his Saturday night and potentially his Sunday morning.

To her dismay she could hear him speaking. She waited just out of sight, trying to hear the response, but after a moment of silence he started speaking again. She looked down at herself, she was swamped in his T-shirt, it fell to her mid thighs and the shoulders were far too broad for her, the sleeves only started halfway down her arms.

She tried to right the dress underneath the T-shirt, but even then it wasn’t visible.

She took a deep breath and stepped out into the large room, trying to ignore the blush on her cheeks.

Hades was in the kitchen, stirring something on the stove. His back was to her and his phone was currently wedged between his ear and his shoulder. 

“No, you can’t come here either, brunch will just have to wait this week,” he was saying down the phone.

Persephone looked around the room, it was an open plan kitchen and living space. One half had black couches facing a large TV, the other was a large kitchen and a long dining table seemed to split the room into two.

The floor was a polished black marble and Persephone couldn’t help but check that she wasn’t leaving footprints on the floor as she went. The walls were mostly bare, the only decorations she could see were three square paintings of pomegranates hanging in the kitchen. 

The wall directly in front of her was black and panelled, similar to how her windows were set up in her own flat. As she stepped further into the room she was surprised to see that the black walls were actually blinds. She could only imagine the amazing views Hades probably got of the city, no matter the time of day.

She took another step into the room and Cerberus left her, his nails clicked on the floor as he made his way over to the kitchen and alerted Hades to her presence in the room.

He smiled at her, and then hissed into the phone, “I’ve gotta go, don’t tell Zeus.”

She could only assume he was talking to Poseidon, unless he had other friends who spoke Greek as well as he did, and could cope with his sudden shift of languages.

“Good morning,” he called to her, and then checked his phone, “or good afternoon, I suppose.”

Her eyes widened, “what time is it?” 

“It’s just gone twenty past twelve,” he rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“I’m really sorry,” she ran her fingers through her hair, “I know you have other things to be doing, I’ll just..”

She tried to find an exit in the room but couldn’t see anywhere to go, a flash of white caught her eye and she could see her shoes propped up against the couch. She moved closer and she could see her bag was on the couch as well. 

“You don't have to go,” he said, moving around the kitchen island towards her, “I made some lunch if you would like to join me?”

Persephone bit her lip and looked down at her shoes again, “I don't want to intrude...”

Hades smiled softly at her, still moving closer, “I promise you are not intruding at all.” He was still wearing his pyjamas; a black T-shirt that matched her own and some black and blue plaid pants. The casual domesticity of it all made her want to reach out and pull him into a hug.

“If you’re sure,” She murmured and he gestured for her to join him in the kitchen.

She ended up sat on one of the bar stools as he added the finishing touches to a penne arrabiata. 

“Do you have any allergies?” He asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Uh, not really, but I am a vegetarian,” she admitted, resting her head in her hands and leaning across the island to see what he was doing.

He nodded and reached into his fridge for a block of cheese. Persephone was surprised that he had vegetarian Parmesan already, she opened her mouth to ask about it but he clarified before she could get a word out.

“Amphitrite’s a pescatarian,” he said, looking over his shoulder as he grated some into the sauce, “it’s less painful to have this in than to have her go hungry.”

“Makes sense, she is quite intimidating.”

Hades laughed, “she’d love to hear that.”

He served two bowls of the pasta and asked if she would like a drink, Persephone accepted a water and waited for him to join her before she started eating. 

She took one bite and moaned, “this is so good!”

Hades looked pleased, he had his trademark little smile on his face and he looked down as his own bowl. 

“So, is this a successful hangover cure?” He asked, using his fork to gesture to her bowl.

She nodded, her mouth full.

“What hangover?” She asked, eyes wide.

He laughed, “I’m surprised you aren’t feeling worse, although the water your friend was giving you most likely helped.”

“Nope,” she said, stabbing more pasta onto her fork, “this is all the cure I need right here.”

“Oh really?” He said, leaning closer to her.

“Mmhmmm,” she swallowed, “you could sell this, you’d make millions.”

“But then you would have to share this discovery with other people,” Hades pointed out.

Persephone pretended to think this over for second and then nodded slowly, “that’s true, I think this needs to stay between us two.”

Hades smiled again, “my lips are sealed.”

“Good,” she finished her last bite and looked up at him, “I’m definitely going to need the recipe though.”

He smirked, “my lips are sealed on that as well.”

She gasped, “you can’t just change my life like this and leave me hanging!”

Hades shrugged and swallowed his last bite as well, “guess you’ll just have to let me know when you need some in future.”

Persephone blushed and nodded her agreement. She hopped down from her stool and picked both bowls up, moving to the sink.

“You don't need to do that,” Hades started.

“You cook, I clean,” she said simply, putting the empty bowls in the sink and turning the hot water on, “where’s your dish soap?”

Hades grumbled but pointed to a cupboard above her. She opened it and tried to reach the bottle but it was just too far.

She contemplated trying to climb onto the counter, as she would have done in her own kitchen, but suddenly she could feel a wall of heat behind her. Hades’ arm reached up next to hers and grabbed the bottle for her. She let her head fall back so she could see his face, her hair was falling down her back now and the back of her head was pressing into his chest.

“Thank you.”

He reached around and poured some into the warm water that was already filling the sink up. The scent of pomegranates floated up and she watched as he returned the bottle to the cupboard and closed it.

She turned the tap off and tried to turn to face him without forcing him to retreat.

His hand was rising again, this time going for her face, “Persephone,” he whispered.

She was reaching up to hold onto his shoulders when a loud buzzing brought them out of the moment.

Hades took a quick step back and then looked up to the ceiling. Persephone bit her lip, trying to hold her giggles in. She watched as he made his way to his phone and checked the caller ID before rolling his eyes and answering.

“I told you I was busy,” he said in the aggressive tone he usually reserved for his brother. He looked at her and mouthed ‘sorry’, before turning away to continue his conversation. 

Persephone could still hear him, the sound of her doing the dishes didn’t cover the conversation well. She supposed he felt like he didn't need to leave the room if he wasn’t speaking English and Persephone could feel the guilt eating at her. She resolved to tell him as soon as he was off the phone, then at least conversations he believed to private could actually stay private. But until then...

“Well, I told Poseidon to let you know of the change of plans.”

“Then why are you ringing me?”

“Yes she’s still here, we just had lunch.”

“Stop being a pervert or I will hang up.”

Persephone tried to keep a straight face and not laugh at his irritated tone. She dried her hands and moved around the counter to sit back down.

“You did actually, but I’m glad you rang.”

“No, I thought maybe... but it doesn’t matter, it’s not like that between us. I think she’s just friendly with most people, and anyway you know it can’t happen.” 

Persephone reached for her drink, it was one thing to hope for something, another thing altogether to hear someone crush that down in front of you.

“I don’t care, no one deserves to get cheated on.”

Persephone let her hair fall in front of her, trying to hide the tears she could feel building. So he had a girlfriend, she thought to herself. She tortured herself imagining what she would look like. She’d be tall, no doubt, with long legs and she’d be beautiful; when they go out people would think that they look so good together.

“Zeus...”

Persephone folded her arms on the counter and let her head fall forward resting on her forearms.

“Zeus, even if what you’re saying is true, she has a boyfriend. There are lines even I won’t cross.”

Persephone sat up suddenly. 

‘I don't have a boyfriend.’

The words were nearly out of her mouth before she could hold them back. She slapped her hands over her mouth, trying to cover her shock and stop herself from blurting anything out. She heard Hades pause behind her.

“One sec... Persephone, are you okay?”

“Yep, sorry,” she squeaked, and turned around. He was standing in the middle of the couches looking at her with concern.

“You don't feel sick do you?” He frowned.

“Nope, I just, uh...” She spotted her bag on the couch next to him, “I just realised I didn't text Psyche last night!”

She jumped down and hurried to the couches, quickly scooping up her bag and looking for her phone.

She found it and saw 5 missed call from both Eros and Psyche and several texts, all asking where she was.

Just as she was typing out a reply her phone started vibrating, Psyche’s name flashing on the screen.

She looked up at Hades who was still watching her intently, and then bit her lip, “looks like I’m in trouble.”

He frowned and Persephone answered the phone.

“Persephone!” Psyche’s voiced screeched at her, causing her to move the phone away from her ear a little.

“I’m sorry I didn’t text,” she said, turning away from Hades. He didn't need to see the embarrassment on her face. “I fell asleep on the way back, but you don't need to worry, Hades got me home safely.”

She could hear some commotion on the line and suddenly Eros’ voice was in her ear, also shouting, “I’m so sorry Persie, I should’ve got you home myself, you know what I’m like when I’m drunk.”

She laughed and ran a hand through her hair, “of course I do, it’s just that I’m usually sober and can rein you in.”

“We’re coming around right now,” Eros said, “we’ll make you some lunch as an apology.”

Psyche chimed in, “don't worry, I’ll be cooking so it will actually make you feel better.”

“Well um...” she looked at Hades and noticed that he was still holding his phone to his ear but was focused completely on her. Idly she wondered if Zeus had hung up or was just waiting for Hades to pay attention to him again. “I’m not actually at my apartment right now.”

There was a beat of silence and then Eros shouted, “you little tart!” He sounded excited for her and Psyche was giggling too.

Persephone looked at Hades in alarm, hoping he didn’t hear that, “Eros please don’t, I can’t talk right now.”

“Okay, but we are coming over later for details,” he hissed.

She nodded even though he couldn’t see, “okay, see you then.”

She dropped her phone onto the couch and ran both hands through her hair, closing her eyes. She didn't know what details he would be asking for, but he would gloat for days that he set her up and made this all possible. He was going to be insufferable about it.

“Zeus, I’m going to have to call you back... yeah, the boyfriend.” He sounded tense and Persephone couldn’t imagine why.

She opened her eyes and looked at him curiously, he had heard her mention Eros’ name, did he think that Eros was her boyfriend?

She tried to think back on the times she had seen Hades with Eros present and didn’t think they had done anything overly affectionate. Well, apart from holding hands across a table in a coffee shop, him hugging her before leaving, and- her face flamed as she remembered Eros saying he was going to ‘blow her mind’ while holding a drugstore bag.

Hades approached her slowly, “I’m sorry if you’re in trouble because you’re here,” he looked down, as if he was ashamed, “I should’ve got your apartment number from Hecate.”

Persephone shook her head furiously, “you have nothing to be sorry about! I’m not in any trouble I promise!” 

She sat down on the edge of the couch and Hades hesitated a second before joining her.

“You shouldn’t let him speak to you like that,” he said gently.

“It’s not like that-”

Hades held his hands up and interrupted her, “I know it’s none of my business.”

She tried again, “no, he’s not-“

“You don't have to justify anything to me,” he took her hand and looked into her eyes, he looked so earnest that it stopped her for a second. Before she could say anything in reply he smirked. “I know what will take your mind off it.”

She frowned as he leaned back and whistled loudly, causing Cerberus to jump up from where he was lying on the kitchen floor and make his way over to them. She could hear the pitter patter of other sets of paws making their way towards them. She looked down the hallway leading to the bedrooms and was surprised to see six other dogs running at them.

The first to reach them was a large white a grey husky, closely followed by a small brown spaniel. They looked at Hades before approaching Persephone, the smaller dog jumping up onto the couch to nose into her arm.

She giggled and ran her hand over his head, ruffling the hair between his ears. She turned to the rest of the pack who seemed to be more cautious in their approach. A large white dog rested it’s head on Hades’ lap and nudged his hand gently until Hades obliged.

“So these are my dogs,” he gestured with the hand that was free, “This is Big John,” he nodded to the dog in his lap, “that’s Fudge and Mushroom.” He pointed to the dogs closest to her in turn.

He looked at the rest who were still keeping a distance, there was a Shiba Inu and another large tan dog, “that’s Russell and J.P.”

There was a low growl at her feet and Persephone looked down to find a tiny white Pomeranian snarling up at her.

“And that’s Cordon Bleu,” Hades sighed, “he’s a handful unfortunately.”

Persephone bit her lip and tentatively reached out towards the small dog, she let her hand hang in the air for a second before the growling intensified and the little dog barked and snapped his jaws at her.

Persephone jumped back further onto the couch, also unfortunately placing her nearly on Hades’ lap.

Fudge sniffed reproachfully at her and jumped down to play with the others in the kitchen. Cordon Bleu let out a final growl in her direction and turned away to go and play with Cerberus.

Persephone looked up at Hades nervously, conscious of how close they were now.

“Is there any chance I can win him over or is it a lost cause?” She asked.

Hades looked stumped for a second, “uh, maybe, if you give him enough treats and attention.”

She nodded and looked at all the dogs in front of her, “you weren’t kidding when you said you had a lot. How do you find time to walk them all?”

He ruffled Big John’s head again and laughed, “I don’t most of the time, I get someone to walk them during the week, and Russell and Cordon Bleu go to a daycare so they don’t destroy the place while I’m gone.”

“Oh,” Persephone looked down at her hands, twisting her fingers together nervously, “you never actually mentioned what you do?”

“Oh well, you know I work for Pomegranate Tech,” he waved his hands like it was insignificant, “but it’s really boring to be honest.”

Persephone wanted to ask him about it, but he leaned in closer, taking her breath away.

“Also, you haven’t met all the dogs.”

Persephone frowned and looked at the dogs in front of her, “seven dogs weren’t enough?” She teased, “you’re going to need a bigger place if you ever look for any more.”

He smoothly dislodged Big John’s head and stood, holding a hand out for her, “well, technically she found me, and she hardly takes up any room at all.”

Persephone took his hand and he led her down the corridor, past the door to the guest bedroom and stood in front of the final door, “she’s still too small to really play with the others yet,” he explained, opening the door.

The first thing that occurred to Persephone was that this was Hades’ bedroom, there were two doors leading off it, one half opened to show a bathroom and the other was no doubt a closet. The colour scheme was repeated in here, lots of comforting shades of dark blue all mixing together to give the impression of the night sky. 

The second thing was the absolutely tiny spaniel currently curled up on the foot of Hades’ bed. Her tan coat stood out amongst the navy sheets and she looked extra small in direct comparison the king sized bed.

“Oh my gods,” she squealed quietly and ran into the room, kneeling on the floor in front of the bed to get a better look.

When she was practically nose to nose with the puppy she remembered Hades and looked guiltily over her shoulder at him.

He was smiling down at her and Persephone could hear a little yawn and feel a quick breath on the side of her face. She turned back to the puppy and watched as she came out of a yawn and stretched, her front paws inches away from Persephone’s chin.

She blinked sleepily at Persephone and then seemed to realised that she was a new person and jumped up in surprise. Her little tail was moving so fast that Persephone could hardly see it. She was about to ask Hades what her name was but she little dog let out an excited yip and jumped up at Persephone’s face.

Persephone moved back automatically and for a heart stopping second it looked like the little dog would tumble off the bed, but her reaction time was, thankfully, quicker.

She scooped the little dog up and held her to her chest. The puppy was quite content to sit there, snuggling into her neck and trying to lick her face.

Persephone looked up at Hades, trying to keep her voice low to not scare, “what’s her name?”

“Meli,” he said softly, moving to sit on the bed.

“Hmm,” Persephone examined the dog in her hands, “is it short for anything?”

Hades frowned, “no, just Meli.”

“She looks more like a Pomelia to me,” Persephone said softly, thinking of the small yellow flowers her mother had insisted on growing back home. Her mother had always said they represent new beginnings and she couldn’t help but feel like she was teetering on the edge of one with Hades. 

The little dog let out a small bark and wriggled around in Persephone’s arms.

Hades laughed, “its a revolution, two against one.”

Persephone turned Meli around so she was looking and Hades and brought her up to cover her face, adding in her own puppy dog eyes for good measure, “tell me I’m wrong.”

Hades looked lost for a second before letting out a long breath, “I can’t argue with those faces,” he conceded. 

Persephone gasped and set the puppy on the floor where she jumped around excitedly, “looks like we won our first revolution! Who’s the best girl?” She cooed.

Pomelia spun around on the spot and then tried to climb onto Persephone’s lap. Persephone quickly rearranged herself on the floor so her legs were crossed and Hades’ T-shirt was still covering everything. Pomelia jumped into the cocoon of her thighs and settled down, clearly comfortable.

Persephone looked down at the dog and continued showering her with gentle praise as well as tummy scritches.

“Gods, I’ve never been jealous of a dog before,” Hades muttered, clearly not intending for her to hear, or understand him.

Persephone froze and hoped that her hair was covering her face enough to mask the blush that had spread across her cheeks.

She cleared her throat after a while and looked up at Hades. He was leaning back on his bed, both arms supporting himself as he looked down at her. Persephone couldn’t help but notice how his relaxed pose emphasised the muscles on his arms, but also made him look unbearably soft. As if she could just stand up and slide into his lap for comfort.

She knew she needed to address the whole ‘boyfriend’ thing, but she really had no reason to bring it up. She wasn’t supposed to have overheard his conversation, so she couldn’t just outright say that Eros was just a friend, as it would no doubt raise questions. 

She wondered what would happen if she stood up and crawled onto Hades’ lap now. Would he wrap her in his arms again? Or push her away because of a miscommunication?

She was lost in thought for a second, or possibly longer, but a small yip from Pomelia soon brought her back.

Persephone lifted the small dog up to look at her eye to eye and said “you’re very demanding for one so cute.”

Pomelia replied by licking Persephone’s nose and wriggling excitedly once again.

Persephone put her on the floor again and watched her run away, her ears flopping along at odds with her body.

“You are in serious danger,” she warned Hades.

He raised an eyebrow, “oh really?”

“Yes,” she adjusted her position so she was leaning back, her legs extended out in front of her, “I’m going to need pictures of her everyday or I might just come up here and steal her in the night.”

“Well,” Hades drawled, his eyes resolutely watching her face and not looking at her legs, “that would be risky, as she sleeps in here with me.”

He tilted his head back to acknowledge the bed behind him and Persephone couldn’t help but agree with his earlier statement, she’d never been so jealous of a damned dog before now.

But the thought of little Pomelia curled up on Hades’ chest made her heart ache, both in jealously and wanting to be there to see it.

“I can be quite sneaky if I need to be,” she promised, slowly raising one knee up but keeping her foot flat to other floor.

She watched as Hades’ eyes were drawn to the movement and just as quickly he looked away, but she could see the tick in his jaw as he swallowed.

“I’ll have to be on guard then,” he said seriously, lips twisting to hide a smile.

“Yes you will,” Persephone agreed, looking down just in time for Pomelia to jump on her stomach. She quickly moved her arms to make sure the small dog didn’t fall off, unfortunately she hadn’t thought that through and she fell back, soon lying on her back in the middle of Hades’ bedroom.

She let out a surprised laugh and Pomelia crawled up her chest and sat on her boobs, peering down at her. 

Hades stood and walked over to her, seeming to hesitate for a second before scooping Pomelia up to his own chest. The back of his fingers brushed against the fabric of his t-shirt, dragging it slightly further up her thighs.

He held a hand out and Persephone took it, letting him help her to his feet. She was well within whatever could be considered his personal space, but didn't want to be the one to step away first.

Pomelia leaned out of his arms and tried to lick her face again.

He smiled down at both of them and then stepped away, “sorry, I think she’s just energetic today.”

Persephone smirked, “maybe she just needs a walk?”

Hades looked at her in dawning horror as Pomelia’s head tilted to one side, her ear raising to attention.

He quickly put a hand over her ear and hissed, “why would you say that?”

It seemed to be too late however, the damage was done and Pomelia was wriggling excitedly in his arms, nearly falling out twice before he managed to get a hold of her.

“Say what?” Persephone asked innocently. “Walk?”

Pomelia let out an excited yip and started moving again, licking the corner of Hades’ jaw as he tried to calm her down.

“You’re unbelievable,” he held out the puppy and Persephone took her quickly, feeling how her whole body was vibrating in excitement now. “For that you are joining us, no excuses.”

Persephone grinned, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, isn’t that right?” She directed the latter half of the sentence towards Pomelia, slipping into her softer voice again.

He ran a hand through his hair and nodded, “okay, I’ll just need to get dressed and then we can go.”

Persephone nodded and stood there for a second before realising that she would need to leave in order for him to change. A blush spread across her cheeks, “of course, I’ll just,” she bobbed her head towards the door and tried not to look like she was fleeing.

She headed down to the kitchen, Pomelia calming down slightly as she realised she was getting what she wanted. 

Persephone poked her head into the guest bedroom, trying to make the bed one handed and make sure she had everything she came with.

She walked into the large living space and could see the rest of the dogs till playing in the middle of the couches.

She moved to the kitchen and tried to find a bowl so she could give Pomelia a drink. In the end she could only find one of the bowls they had just used for pasta, but it was clean and the puppy didn't seem to mind. She was still stood on the counter drinking out of the bowl when Hades walked in.

He was dressed in some black suit pants and a black button down, his shoes were already on and he was holding a coat, seemingly debating whether to put it on or not.

“Do you think it will be cold?” Persephone asked, having no way of judging the weather outside.

Hades shrugged, “I’m not sure,” he walked over to a switch on the wall and pressed it. Persephone heard a small beep and suddenly all the black blinds were slowly lifting, flooding the open space with light.

“Wow,” she mumbled, walking over to one of the windows and looking out.

The view was much better than from her own apartment. Downstairs she got a view of other people’s windows and halfway up the tall buildings of the city. Up here they were above most of the surrounding buildings and she could see further than she ever had before.

It seemed to be a nice morning, the sun was shining on the city and making the windows shine so it seemed brighter than it was.

“It bet it’s amazing up here at night,” she said off hand, already thinking about how the city would be lit up at night. They were also that high up that they might be able to see a few stars if it was a clear night.

She turned to Hades and noticed the skin of his cheekbones darkening. She thought over that sounded and found herself explaining quickly, “I-I just meant with all the lights and the sky.” She gestured weakly to the window behind her and he nodded in agreement.

“Yes, the view’s nice,” he agreed and for some reason his tone made Persephone feel warm all over.

“Yep,” she looked down at her own dress situation, “I’m going to need to change if we’re going for a w-a-l-k.”

“Oh so now you can be subtle,” he shook his head, “I can meet you in the park if you want? Or wait here for you?”

Persephone shook her head, “it’ll only take a minute, we can call at mine on the way down.”

She moved to the couch and picked up her bag and shoes. She debated putting them on before deciding that she would survive going barefoot in the elevator.  

She turned to Hades who had already scooped Pomelia up and was waiting for her. She moved closer, “I’m ready,” she looked down at her borrowed T-shirt, playing with the hem. “Do you want this back now or-?

“You should keep it on,” Hades said quickly, clearing his throat and looking away, “your dress isn’t -“ he looked up to the ceiling, clearly feeling awkward, “well, it wasn’t- what I mean is-“

Persephone took pity on him and laughed, “you’re saying that it’s very short, and doesn’t cover much?”

His ears darkened in embarrassment and he nodded silently, “yes, don't get me wrong, it’s very nice.”

Persephone smirked, “I know it is,” then she relented, “but it does have a habit of rolling up.”

He nodded and Persephone could feel his embarrassment from where she was stood, but she wasn’t done teasing him about this yet, “so, how did I get into this?” She picked at the shoulder of the T-shirt, “I remember putting on your hoodie on the way back but nothing after I fell asleep.”

He let out a breath quickly, as if he was hoping she would ask him anything apart from this. He put Pomelia back onto the counter and twisted her lead between his fingers. 

“When we got back I tried to wake you up to get your apartment number from you, but you were passed out. So I brought you here and put you in the guest room. I went to get some water but when I came back you seemed like you were too hot so I helped you out of the hoodie.” 

His voice was gradually going quieter and Persephone could guess what was coming next.

“Your dress was-“ he stopped and clenched his hands, pulling the lead tighter between his fingers. The visual made Persephone feel a little lightheaded and she could feel the familiar warmth spreading in her lower stomach. “It wasn’t cutting it, so I got a spare T-shirt for you to sleep in. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be a creep.” He finished, refusing to meet her eye.

Persephone let out a quiet laugh, “Hades,” he reluctantly met her eyes, “I’m not mad, it’s not your fault you accidentally saw a little more of me than you bargained for, it doesn’t make you a creep.”

His eyes widened and he nodded, but she continued on without thinking, “if it’s anyone’s fault it’s Er-“

She cut herself off quickly, biting her lip and looking away.

His grip on the lead loosened and Persephone could see him step forward out of the corner of her eye.

“Why would it be Eros’ fault?”

She tried to think of a way she could phrase it without it sounding like Eros was a controlling boyfriend, “he said I should wear the dress, and he texted you after all,” she shrugged.

Hades sighed, “you don't have to do everything he says.”

Persephone rolled her eyes, the truthful answer to that would be that it was easier to just do what Eros said than arguing with him. But Hades would definitely take that the wrong way. 

“He’s my best friend,” she said slowly, holding eye contact, “and I don’t do everything he says.”

Hades seemed to hold back his reply and smiled placatingly at her. For some reason that frustrated her more than anything. She wanted him to understand that she wasn’t in a relationship but he just didn’t seem to be getting the message.

“Of course he is,” he nodded, “are you ready for the w-a-l-k now?”

She smiled and nodded, watching as he scooped up Pomelia and walked to the large double doors she had missed in her earlier assessment of the room.

He opened them quietly and she moved through quickly, trying to not draw attention from the other dogs.

She found herself in a sort of waiting room area, it was decorated the same way as Hades’ apartment but the only thing in here was a black leather couch, side table, and the elevator.

He called the elevator and they stood in silence for a minute, Pomelia curling up against Hades’ collar and nuzzling the small bit of skin visible there.

Persephone sighed again, finding herself jealous of the dog for the second time that afternoon.

The doors opened with a small ding, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She stepped in quickly and pressed the button for her floor. The silence was surprisingly nice, she didn't feel the need to fill it with chatter, and Hades seemed to be on the same wavelength because he didn’t speak either. 

The doors opened on her floor and she was surprised to see Artemis stood in front of her.

Artemis stepped forward and then seemed to process the image before her. 

“Uh,” she looked at Persephone’s bare legs and shoes, still dangling from her fingertips, “you okay?”

“Hi Artemis,” Persephone squeaked, stepping out of the elevator and pulling Hades with her, “I’m good, how are you?”

Artemis looked between them and her mouth seemed to curl unhappily at Hades, before softening when she caught sight of Pomelia.

“I’m okay, I’m heading to the farmer’s market,” she looked a little guilty at this, “I did actually knock on your door to see if you wanted to join, but you didn't answer.” She rolled her eyes at herself, “obviously you didn't answer because you’re here!” She laughed nervously, still looking between them.

There was a beat of silence and then Persephone and Artemis both spoke at the same time.

“Can we pretend you didn't see me like this?”

“I’m sorry if I’m making this awkward.”

They both smiled at each other, relieved that they weren’t the only one feeling the tension. Persephone glanced at Hades and could see that he was holding his jaw stiffly, the way he did when he was uncomfortable.

“You’re not making this awkward,” she reassured Artemis, “I just had a little too much to drink last night and Hades helped me home,” she explained. “Unfortunately I passed out before I could tell him my apartment number.”

Artemis laughed and looked at Hades curiously, like she was seeing him in a new light, “yeah, that sounds like something you would do.”

She frowned suddenly, “but I thought you were out with Eros last night? I assumed you were spending the night at his when you didn’t answer.”

She saw Hades tense out of the corner of her eye and Persephone wanted to throw her head back and scream. 

“I was out with Eros and Psyche,” she clarified, “but they left before I did. Thankfully he sent for help.” She nodded and smiled at Hades.

Artemis nodded, as if this made sense to her.

“Well it was nice seeing you,” she nodded awkwardly to both of them and then stepped into the elevator, “and the puppy!”

Pomelia let out a little yip in agreement and Artemis smiled as the doors closed.

Persephone let out a deep breath, “well, that could have gone better,” she said, taking Hades’ free hand and pulling him down the corridor.

“Artemis doesn’t like me,” he explained, “my brother is quite notorious for being a dick and she lumps me into that category as well.”

Persephone frowned, pulling her keys out of her purse, “she shouldn’t judge you all based on Zeus.” She pushed her door open and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Hades followed her into her small apartment she was suddenly very conscious of the state she left it in last night. There were empty bottles on the kitchen counter and pizza boxes on her coffee table.

“I’m sorry for the mess,” she said, quickly moving to throw the bottles and boxes in the bin. She ran around tidying for a few minutes before deciding that it was the best she was going to get it and turned back to Hades, biting her lip. “I didn’t know I’d be having company otherwise I would have tidied last night.”

Hades shook his head, “don’t worry about it, you should see my place when my brother’s come over.”

Persephone laughed, imagining the mess they could create. They were probably worse than the dogs in that aspect.

“Help yourself to a drink if you want one,” she offered, “I’m just going to get changed.”

She fled into her bedroom and quickly looked through her wardrobe for an appropriate outfit. She settled for a simple pale pink fitted dress with long sleeves and a small teardrop cut out under the neck.

She put on her comfortable heels and gave her hair a quick brush through. She checked herself in the mirror before deeming herself suitable. She picked up her shoulder bag and quickly transferred everything from her clutch over.

“I’ll just be a second!” She called as she rushed into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

When she emerged Hades was sitting on her couch, looking a little out of place dressed all in black in her bright apartment. He’d managed to get Pomelia into a small red collar and was holding her lead as she ran around his feet, clearly excited to be in a new place.

“Ready,” she smiled and he looked up and matched her smile.

The trip down to the lobby passed quickly, Persephone was too caught up in her thoughts to try and make any conversation and Hades seemed content to ride in silence. 

When the doors opened he held out a hand, indicating she should go first. She couldn’t help but smile at his old fashioned manners. He held the door open to the street and she couldn’t help but laugh, remembering what Amphitrite had said the time they met. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

“Oh nothing,” she shrugged, “just thinking that you are single-handedly raising chivalry from the dead.”

His lips twitched, no doubt hiding the small, please smile he seemed to get whenever she complimented him.

“Anyway, how did you get Pomelia?”

The little dog was running around his feet as they walked, the long red lead seemed almost comical as it stretched from his hands to the tiny dog.

“Meli,” he corrected her.

She looked at him innocently, “yes, short for Pomelia.”

He looked at her seriously for a second before let out a quick laugh and looking away, “you’re going to hold me to that aren’t you?”

“Of course,” she sniffed, “you said it yourself; it was the first victory Pomelia and I won against you.”

“The first?” He asked wryly, “why do I get the feeling that there will be many to come?”

Persephone looked away from him and blushed at that, secretly pleased that he already seemed to be willing to make a space for her in his life.

“Well, a good ruler always takes the people’s opinion into account when making decisions, otherwise they are just asking for uprisings,” she replied, matter of fact.

Hades moved slightly closer to her and whispered, “and what if the ruler doesn’t bend to the public’s will?”

Persephone slowly reached out and linked her arm into the crook of his elbow. He looked surprised at the move but she glanced up at him and raised her eyebrow, “then the tyrant should expect mutiny after mutiny until the people are happy.”

He rolled his eyes, but rested the hand holding Pomelia’s leash on top of her arm. They walked in silence for a few minutes before he spoke.

“I found Meli on my way back from work one day last week,” he started quietly, “someone had left her in a cage in an alleyway.”

Persephone gasped and looked at the small dog, she couldn’t imagine any reason why anyone would want to abandon the happy puppy.

Hades stopped for a second and then reached down and scooped her up with his free hand. “She was so sad.” He seemed to be lost in thought for a second as they walked, “I took her to the vet but she doesn’t have a chip, so,” he shrugged, “I kept her.”

Persephone squeezed his arm tighter and let her head fall so it was resting on his upper arm, “of course you did, other people would have just walked on by. You’re really too good.”

He shrugged again, “I don’t think so, I couldn’t leave her, I just...” he seemed to struggle with his words for a second before shaking his head and smiling, “she was too cute to leave I guess.”

Persephone could help but feel like he’d not told the whole truth, but she didn't want to pry this early on.

Pomelia, now sitting in the middle of Hades’ crossed arms, let out a small bark in agreement and turned her head upwards. She licked the underside of Hades’ jaw and he rolled his eyes at her.

“All right,” he said to the dog, putting her gently on the floor again.

They were at the park that Persephone had seen last night on the way to Aphrodite’s and Pomelia was already rolling in the grass excitedly. 

The walked around the park slowly, making sure to let Pomelia explore every flower and greet everyone they met. They maintained a comfortable silence while they walked, only breaking it to say hello to the people Pomelia would attract, or to the puppy herself.

When they had done a full lap Persephone spotted a bench close to the gate and sat down, pulling Hades along with her.

Pomelia lied down on the floor between them, her head resting on Persephone’s feet. She seemed to fall asleep straight away, evidently exhausted from the walk.

“I was serious before,” she said, looking down at the dog, “if I don't get daily updates I’m going to steal her away from you.”

“You won’t get a chance,” he said confidently, “she comes to work with me right now, and like I said she sleeps in my bed.”

“They let you take her to work?” Persephone looked at him sceptically.

Hades smirked, “yeah, she’s too young to go to the daycare and I’ve heard the boss just loves dogs.”

Persephone nodded thoughtfully, “I may need to apply for a job there if I can just play with dogs all day.”

Hades put a hand over his heart and looked hurt, “is that what you think I do all day?”

Persephone let out a small ‘hmm’ and pretended to think about it and Hades laughed, “well at least now I know what you think about me.”

Persephone smiled and shifted a little bit closer to him on the bench, “well you definitely are a scoundrel, no doubt about it.”

“Scoundrel, eh?”

“Of course,” she said seriously, leaning in closer, “first you tease me by saying you’re a good cook, then you prove it, and don’t even give me the recipe!” She wagged her finger at him, “then you introduce me to this sweet girl,” she gestured to the dog at her feet, “and now I’m supposed to just go on with my days without her? Impossible.”

“Hmm,” he put a finger on his chin and pretended to think about it. After a minute he turned to her with a smirk, “I wouldn’t say that makes me a full scoundrel, maybe only half a scoundrel?”

She put her elbow on the back of the bench and rested her head on it, looking at him seriously. She poked him on the chest, “and now you’re trying to wiggle out of it, that’s at least another 25% there.”

“So what’s the final total?” He asked, taking the hand that had been prodding him and wrapping it in both of his, “75% scoundrel?”

“I suppose so,” she agreed, “subject to your future actions, of course.”

“Of course,” he nodded along with her, looking at her in the eyes earnestly, “so how exactly can I lower my score?”

“Well...” Persephone blushed, she was finding it a little hard to think when he was staring at her so intently. His eyes darted down to her cheeks, watching the blush as it spread. He smirked once again and Persephone licked her lips, his eyes followed the movement once again.

He leaned in closer, and whispered, “come on Persephone, what can I do?”

“Uh,” she tried to answer him but she was more focused on not passing out from the tension she could feel building between them. “You could...”

He raised her hand to his lips, resting them just on her knuckles. She could feel his breath running across the back of hands and causing goosebumps to raise. “Could what?”

She freed her hand from his and cupped his cheek, he seemed surprised at the movement and his calm facade was broken. She stroked a thumb across his cheekbone and he looked just as affected as she felt as she pulled him closer.

She looked down at his lips again, making her intent clear, and her eyelids fluttered as she could feel his breath on her face.

Their lips met for a brief moment that seemed to stretch on for hours; one of Hades’ hands quickly found itself tangled in her hair, the other resting on her lower back and pulling her closer.

Persephone was about to run her own fingers through his hair when Pomelia let out a loud yip at her feet.

They separated quickly, both looking down at the little dog, Hades took the opportunity to move back and put as much distance between them as he could on the bench.

Pomelia was stretching, having just been woken up by the movement of Persephone’s foot.

Persephone looked back to Hades to make a comment about her but he seemed embarrassed and wouldn’t meet her eyes. 

She looked away, her face flushing with her own embarrassment. She tried to reassure herself that she hadn’t just ruined anything they had, but as the silence stretched on it was growing harder and harder to believe the lies.

Hades was the one to break the silence, “I’m sorry.”

Persephone took a deep breath and looked at him, “for what?”

She widened her eyes, silently begging him to say anything she could just as quickly correct. If he mentioned Eros or even the notion of her having a boyfriend she would finally be able to put that to rest at last.

He looked her over and just sighed, “for being a scoundrel,” he replied, but didn’t clarify what he meant. “We should probably head back now.”

Persephone didn’t want to leave it at that, she could already feel him closing off to her. She desperately wanted to reassure him that she had enjoyed the kiss, and that he wasn’t being a scoundrel at all.

“Of course,” she said, standing up with him, “but you shouldn’t worry about being a scoundrel,” she promised him.

He looked at her sceptically and bent down to scoop Pomelia up into his arms, the puppy already halfway back to sleep. “Oh really?”

“Really,” she wriggled her own arm into the crook of his elbow so she could link him again as they walked, “you’re sitting at around 50% after that.”

“So that’s how to get it down?” he asked, his voice still sounding distant and cold.

Persephone hated it, but she couldn’t do anything but push through it for now.

“Well, that and sending me pupdates of course.”

His lips twitched, almost against his will, “pupdates?”

“Of course, I’ll need almost daily reminders of how my little Pomelia is doing.”

They filled the rest of the walk back with idle chatter, Persephone could tell that Hades was still tense, as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop and for her to start shouting. But she kept it casual and tried to not think about the kiss too much.

By the time they were stood in front of the elevator Persephone still hadn’t found an opening to disclose her relationship status and she was worrying that they were going to part with him still believing the ridiculous notion that Eros- of all people- was her boyfriend.

The doors opened on her floor and Persephone didn't want to step out, too worried to break the tense bubble she was currently in. She reluctantly let her arm slide from his and took a step forward, still not out of the cubicle.

She decided that now was the time for honesty, well a little honesty at least. 

“Hades,” she waited until her was looking at her, “I know you don't want to talk about what happened in the park,” she ignored the way his shoulder hunched slightly at the reminder, “but I need to you to know that I have zero regrets about it. You didn't make me do anything I didn't want to do, or didn't enjoy.”

He looked at her blankly for a second before frowning slightly, “you don't think it was a mistake?”

“Of course not,” she promised, “do you?”

He looked torn for a second before shaking his head, Persephone let out a long breath, “oh thank the gods.”

She stepped closer to him and pressed a kiss to Pomelia’s head, then reached up to press a quick kiss to his cheek as well.

“I’ll talk to you later then?”

“Yes,” he nodded, he still seem confused but at least he wasn’t as closed off as he was before.

Persephone smiled and let out a relieved sigh as she left the elevator.

*****

The first thing Persephone did when she was back in her apartment was text Psyche and Eros to let them know she was back and that she’d make some food for them when they came around.

She knew she needed to think of a battle plan for how she would convince Hades that she was, in fact, single and completely available. But if she waited for her friends to arrive they could at least think about it together.

She tried to keep her mind off the situation by chopping some vegetables and preparing the sauce for the moussaka she had planned. Unfortunately the monotonous task was boring enough to leave her mind free to wander. She thought back on all the times she had ran into Hades when she was with Eros and tried to piece together how he had landed at the conclusion that they were together.

She had just put the dish in the oven when she heard a knocking at her door. She ran to it quickly and opened it to let Eros and Psyche in.

Eros had a paper box in one had and was holding Psyche’s with the other. He frowned down at her, seeming to check her over to make sure she was okay.

He set the box on her kitchen counter and Psyche coughed politely, giving him a disapproving look out of the corner of her eye.

“Right,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “I’m sorry for leaving you last night Persephone, we should’ve waited with you.”

Before Persephone could say anything in reply Psyche coughed again, her eyes widening at him.

“And... I shouldn’t have text Hades for you,” he mumbled.

He looked so shamefaced that Persephone couldn’t help but laugh a little at him, “Eros, it’s okay, I was completely safe.”

He sent a small smug look to Psyche and looked Persephone over again, “so, what happened?”

Persephone groaned and let her head fall, “he was a perfect gentleman, I fell asleep on the way back and he carried me here. Unfortunately for him I wouldn’t wake up so he took me to his apartment, well, the penthouse, and put me in a guest room.”

“So he seriously didn't jump you in that dress?” Eros sounded a little disappointed.

“Eros, I was unconscious,” she laughed, but then smirked, “I did ask him if he liked the dress and practically made him check me out though.”

Eros smirked back, “that’s my girl.”

“He put me in one of his T-shirts to sleep in, and when I woke up he was making some lunch for us, and it was delicious.” She paused, thinking back to her morning, “but then his brother rang.”

“Which one?” Psyche cut in, “because we’ve just seen one of his brother’s in the elevator now.”

Eros nodded, “yes, we could’ve used your little bilingual ass to see what he was saying to his wife. They were talking so fast and kept glaring at me.”

Persephone narrowed her eyes and looked at them, “was it the brother from last night?” They nodded, “were you two holding hands? Or doing anything vaguely couple-y?”

They frowned at each and Psyche replied, “I don't think we were, why?” 

Persephone groaned again, “that’s something he said to his brother this morning, for some reason Hades and his brother’s seem to think that Eros is my boyfriend and I don’t know why.”

Eros’ nose scrunched in confusion, and Psyche laughed, “maybe it’s because you two are too affectionate in public?”

“We’re not!” Eros tried to argue. “Are we?”

Persephone bit her lip, “well we did hug in the coffee shop in front of them, so maybe?”

“If they think I’m your boyfriend then why on earth would I message Hades to pick you up last night?”

Persephone had been thinking about that all afternoon and had come to a conclusion that she knew would ruffle his feathers.

“I think...” she started gently, picking at a hem on her dress, “that they think you’re a bad boyfriend?”

Eros’ eyes widened, “why would they think that?”

“Well, we know it’s not true right?” Persephone said, looking at Psyche worriedly. Thankfully the other women just had an amused look on her face and nodded in agreement. “But you spilt coffee on me and ran out on me at the coffee shop. I practically told them last night that you picked my outfit and wouldn’t let me wear a jacket! And I bet it looked like I was trying to get away from you when we we’re joking around in the elevator last night. And Hades heard you call me a tart on the phone this morning,” her voice trailed off towards the end and she didn't want to meet his eye.

“What?” Eros sounded like he was choking, “so they think I’m controlling and abusive?”

Persephone sighed again and tried to crack a joke, “maybe, he did say I shouldn’t let you speak to me like that though.”

Eros rolled his eyes, “well, all we need to do is find a way to tell him that we’re just friends and you can ride off into the sunset with him and then my reputation as an upstanding boyfriend will be reinstated.”

Psyche nodded, “and for the correct girlfriend, which will be even better.” 

Persephone nodded, “so how are we going to do it?”

“Why don’t you just say we aren’t together?” Eros asked, like he was missing the obvious.

“Because I would have to explain that I understood him, and that I’ve been understanding every ‘private’ conversation he’s had with his brothers since I met him,” Persephone ran her hands through her hair, “and he’ll probably think I’m a liar and never trust me again.”

Psyche smiled gently, “I don't think he would think you’re a liar, although he would be embarrassed for a while.”

Persephone groaned, “I just want to avoid that if possible, so I need to come up with the perfect way of saying that I’m single, without outright saying that I’m single.”

“We could always stage a breakup,” Eros said thoughtfully, his eyes already sparkling in excitement, “have a shouting match in the lobby and all that. They already think I’m a bad guy so it would make sense.”

Persephone sent a confused look to Psyche who was looking equally confused, “you do know we’re not actually together right?”

“And what would happen when you keep hanging around Persephone after that?” Psyche pointed out.

Eros deflated a little, “I was just thinking of the drama of it all,” he sniffed.

Persephone rolled her eyes, “I want less drama if possible, I want to clue him in in the most subtle way I can think of.”

“You could always call me when he’s there,” Eros said slowly, “like say my name so they know it’s me and then just invite me around, tell me to bring Psyche.”

Psyche thought it over for a second, “too subtle I think, two of them have already met us and know we all hang out.”

Eros nodded and Persephone thought it over, “unless I ask him specially to bring his girlfriend on the phone?”

“What?” Eros laughed, “‘Eros, come round please, and bring that girlfriend of yours with you’? Are we going to refer to Psyche as the old ball and chain next?”

Psyche laughed and rolled her eyes, “it would get the point across I suppose.”

Persephone put her head on the counter again and groaned, “it was just an idea. It’s so difficult to just slip it into conversation.”

The timer for the moussaka went off and Persephone quickly moved to get it out the oven.

“Well for now it’s the best we’ve got,” Eros said placatingly, “we can always try it and see what happens?”

Persephone nodded and started dishing the moussaka onto plates.

“So what have you been up this afternoon?” Psyche asked while she grabbed a few glasses of water.

“Oh, Hades introduced me to his dogs and we took his puppy for a walk.” She really regretted not snapping a quick picture of Pomelia before she left but she would just have to keep her fingers crossed that Hades kept his word on the pupdates.

“Sound thrilling,” Eros said sarcastically, “anything fun happen?”

“Oh you know,” Persephone put the plates down in front of her friends and waited until Eros has taken a bite, “we might have kissed.”

Eros choked on the hot food in his mouth and both Persephone and Psyche laughed at him.

“He doesn’t seem to have a lot of respect for this imaginary relationship we have going,” he sniffed once he had recovered.

“I technically initiated it,” Persephone confessed, “I’m just worried that he’ll think I’m a floozy.”

Psyche shook her head, “you have no reason not to kiss him, if you were really ignorant of what he thinks then you would’ve done it anyway.”

Persephone nodded, and Psyche continued, “it’s his own fault for not asking you if you were single.”

“Very true,” Eros agreed.

Persephone nodded again, finally feeling the tension she had been carrying slip away.

*****

Persephone didn't have a chance to try out the plan in the days after that. She didn't see any sign of Hades in the building and even though she tried to leave earlier to catch him on his way to work she didn't run into him. 

Hades kept his promise though, and everyday she would receive a picture of Pomelia, but he always seemed too busy to talk more.

Initially she had thought he was busy at work, but after a few days and five instances of him growing distant only when she flirted she guessed it was more than that.

She didn't know if his respect for her fictional relationship was cute or annoying. Persephone leaned towards annoying, especially after she had been left on read for a few hours one day.

She was trying to convince herself that it was just because of the misunderstanding, but late at night the thought that he was just pushing her away because he wasn’t interested in her anymore surfaced. Eros and Psyche both insisted that he was obviously still interested but Persephone couldn’t help the doubt.

She invited them around for a movie night that Friday, with the promise of snacks, wine and lots of rom coms, with the unspoken promise that no one would mention it if she cried.

Persephone only had a few morning classes on Friday so she spent the afternoon cleaning her apartment and checking that she had enough snacks in for the night.

She was debating asking Eros and Psyche to pick some things up on their way over but decided against it, she wanted the trip out and possibly to treat herself to something to cheer herself up.

She grabbed her keys and debating changing again, she was already in her comfortable clothes, some pale grey leggings and a big oversized grey hoodie. It was what she wore when she felt ill, and since she was being a bit melodramatic today she thought it was a good fit.

She figured that she was safe since Hades had vanished without a trace, she would have to have to worst luck in the world if she ran into him now.

So, when the doors to the elevator opened, it only made sense that Hades would be standing in front of her.

She looked up at him in surprise and then looked away just as quickly, trying to hide the embarrassment she felt building from nearly a weeks worth of rejections.

His brothers, who had both been talking to him, fell silent as she stepped in and turned around to face the doors.

The doors closed and Persephone took her phone out, remembering the plan, but wondering if it would change anything at all. Would he even care that she was single or would he just continue to ignore her?

“Well,” Poseidon said quietly, “this is awkward.”

Persephone ground her teeth together and quickly called Eros, hoping this would at least alleviate some of the ‘what ifs’ she had bubbling.

“Hey honeybee, you okay?” He asked, he sounded worried, probably thinking that she was going to cancel their plans tonight.

“Hey Eros!” She almost shouted, surprising herself, “you’re still coming around tonight right?”

She tried to ignore how the three men in the small space seemed to grow tense at her words.

“Oh,” Eros voice was suddenly filled with understanding and he lowered his voice, “he’s there isn’t he?”

Persephone tried to force a smile, “yeah, that’s right.” She took a deep breath, it was now or never, “and make sure you bring that girlfriend of yours. I miss her.”

“Yes ma’am,” Persephone could hear his smirk through the phone and it eased some of the embarrassment she felt. “We’re actually downstairs already so I guess I’ll see you in a minute.”

“See you then,” she replied and hung up, still staring straight ahead and resolutely not looking at anything but the elevator doors.

“Girlfriend?” Zeus hissed, “I thought she was the girlfriend?”

“I,” Hades said quietly, sounding confused, “I thought she was?”

“Well obviously not,” Poseidon hissed, “are you going to stop moping around now or what?”

“She probably hates me anyway,” Hades groaned, “I’ve been such a dick to her this week.”

“Well make it up to her,” Poseidon said like it was obvious.

The doors opened before Hades could reply to that and all four occupants of the elevator stared in shock at the scene that was unfurling in front of them.

Eros and Psyche were making out like teenagers in front of the door, she was running her fingers through his hair and he was pulling her close with his arms wrapped around her waist.

Persephone had to hand it to them, it got the point across nicely.

She couldn’t help but laugh at them, ignoring the three brothers who were now staring at her.

“If you two are going to make me feel like a third wheel all night then you can go home right now.”

Eros and Psyche separated, a smug look already crossing Psyche’s face, “and let you watch cheesy rom coms on your own? Not a chance.”

Persephone stepped out of the elevator and Psyche glanced over her shoulder at the three men still staring.

“Oh hey look,” Eros drawled, “Hades right?”

Hades swallowed and looked at Persephone nervously, “yeah, we met at the coffee shop.”

The three men exited the elevator and moved to the side, not making a move to leave.

Psyche stepped a little closer and seemed to be assessing him, Persephone almost felt sorry for him, if it weren’t for the week he had just put her through.

Psyche crossed her arms and tapped a finger to her lips, “I’m Psyche, Eros’ better half.” She held a hand out and Hades took it gratefully.

“Hades,” he said redundantly, clearly feeling a little awkward.

“Thank you for getting Persephone home safe last Saturday,” she said, surprising everyone, “she’s far too polite to say anything but Eros and I can get a little... self-centred when we’re drunk.”

Eros smirked, and muttered, “is that what we’re calling it these days?”

Hades ignored this and held eye contact with Psyche, “it was my pleasure.”

Persephone rolled her eyes, “right, well,” she grabbed Psyche’s hand, “we’ll be going, I know you’re busy and I don't want to take up too much of your time.”

It was a low blow, she knew it as soon as she said it, but she wasn’t expecting the hurt look that crossed Hades’ face and then morphed into a grim acceptance.

“Of course, I’ll... see you around?” He sounded so hopeful that Persephone wanted to pull him into a hug, but she stuck to her guns.

She nodded, pulled Psyche to the door and pushed it open, relishing in the fresh air.

“You okay?” Psyche asked, squeezing her hand gently.

“Yeah,” Persephone admitted, looking over to make sure the door had closed, “it seems like he’s still interested, but...”

“It doesn’t cancel out his behaviour this week,” Psyche finished, nodding.

Eros swung the door open behind them, and Persephone felt a little guilty for not realising he hadn’t followed them out.

He linked Psyche’s arm and started walking down the street, “so, where to boss?”

“I was just nipping for some snacks, so wherever really,” she shrugged, already suspicious of his cheery mood, “what were you doing?”

“Oh nothing,” he said, but he had a pleased smile on his face that usually meant trouble for her.

“Why don't I believe you?” Persephone asked him.

“Because you are too untrusting,” he said, pretending to be offended.

Persephone rolled her eyes but decided to drop it for now.

They reached the shop quickly, all of them going straight for the snack aisle. Persephone was glad for the extra hands to help her carry everything back, and Psyche even helped her to pick out a new scented candle. They both pointedly ignored Eros’ sarcastic comments about an ‘exciting Friday night’.

When they got back to her apartment Persephone ordered some pizzas and grabbed a bottle of wine and some wine glasses, moving to her couch to sit down.

She poured three glasses and watched as Psyche and Eros bickered over which film they should watch first.

Her phone lit up from where it was resting on the arm of the couch and she glanced at it out of reflex. She was surprised when she saw Hades’ name flashing up, indicating a new text.

She unlocked it subtly, making sure that Eros and Psyche were too engrossed in their debate to pay much attention to her.

**I’m sorry for how I’ve acted this week, can we 

meet tomorrow and I’ll explain everything?**

Persephone bit her lip and tried to hide her grin.

**On one condition.**

**Anything**

**You have to bring Pomelia.**

**She wouldn’t miss it for the world, I think she’s

missed you.**

He sent a picture with the last message, of Pomelia lying on what she could only assume was his bed, her little eyes looking at the camera forlornly.

Persephone sighed at the picture, wishing she was there to cuddle up to the puppy and her owner.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Eros asked her, looking interestedly between her and her phone. The movie was already playing and Persephone couldn’t help but smile at the familiar opening to Psyche’s favourite film.

“Look at this!” she said, shoving her phone at the couple.

They both cooed over the dog for a second before Psyche looked up in surprise, “so he’s texting you already?”

“Yeah,” Persephone fidgeted with the wine glass in her hands, “he’s apologised and said that he wants to meet me tomorrow to explain himself.”

Eros handed her the phone back and smiled, “so the plan was a success!” 

“It seems so,” the couple high-fived each other and Persephone had to ask, “who’s idea was it to make out in the lobby?”

“Mine,” Psyche replied smugly, “I was worried that he might be slow on the uptake.”

Persephone laughed, “you shouldn’t have, they were arguing with each other as soon as I hung up.”

“Poor Hades,” Eros said.

Psyche shook her head, “he deserves it! You know what they say about people who assume.”

Eros nodded, “well I certainly hope he feels like an ass right now.”

They all laughed and Persephone refilled their glasses, already feeling buzzed and far too comfortable. 

She idly wondered what it would take to persuade Eros to run downstairs to get the pizza when it got there.

*****

The knocking woke her up.

It wasn’t loud or accompanied by shouting, but for some reason the quiet, polite knocks were enough to rouse Persephone from sleep.

She sat up with a groan, wishing she’d drank more water the night before. 

She looked down at what she was wearing, and decided that it was perfectly acceptable to answer the door in her pink silk pyjama set, especially since it was, she squinted at her phone, 11 o’clock on a Saturday.

She ignored all the missed text messages for now, she’d read them after she’d answered the door.

She shuffled down her hall, making sure to tiptoe past Eros and Psyche who had borrowed some blankets and made a fort on her couch.

She got to the door just as the second round of knocking had ended, quickly removing the latch and pulling the door open.

The first thing that registered in her head was the flowers. A large bouquet of pale pink and white flowers, carnations and roses mixed with baby’s breath, beautifully arranged and wrapped in pink tissue paper and ribbon.

When she finally looked away from the flowers she was shocked to see Hades stood there, instead of a courier.

He had one of his usual suits on, but his pocket square was a pale pink today, to match the flowers. Persephone could feel her heart stutter when she saw it and she couldn’t help the smile that was spreading across her face.

The way his hair was falling into his face was familiar to her, it was the way it fell after he had run his hands through it many times.

He looked a little sheepish as he took in her appearance, “sorry, I woke you, I can come back later.”

He turned as if to go, but the small bundle of fur at his feet had other ideas and let out a loud yip, already running for Persephone.

“No it’s okay,” she opened the door wider and stepped to one side to let him in, “come in. Those are beautiful.”

“They’re for you,” Hades murmured nervously.

“Oh, thank you.”

She turned back into her apartment and realised that Eros and Psyche were still fast asleep on the sofa. 

She took the flowers from Hades and put them on the kitchen counter, debating whether to wake the couple on her couch or get dressed and go for a walk while they slept off their hangovers.

The choice was made by Pomelia, who let out another impatient bark and jumped up at Persephone’s shins, desperate for attention.

She heard a groan from the sofa, but ignored it in favour of picking the puppy up and showering her with kisses and pets.

If Hades was surprised by her house guests he hid it well and fidgeted with Pomelia’s lead. Persephone watched him as he turned it over and over in his hands, it was obviously a nervous habit and she wondered if he even realised he was doing it at this point. 

“Sorry,” Persephone nodded her head towards the sitting room behind her, “movie night ran a little late.”

“No- you don't have to apologise for that,” Hades said, “I’m sorry for barging in, I did text but, well, now I’m realising that you were probably asleep.” He blushed, evidently embarrassed for not realising it sooner.

There was an awkward silence that stretched on for longer than Persephone would have liked, but she didn't really know what to say to that.

“Do you want a drink?” She offered, not knowing what the rules were in this kind of situation.

“Ugh, a coffee please,” Eros groaned from the couch, causing Pomelia to wriggle in Persephone’s arms, trying to see where the voice had come from.

Psyche sat up on the couch, her hair was in a messy bun and at this point there was more hair falling out of the bun than there was in it.

She looked over the back of the sofa and her eyes widened when she saw Hades. She raised a hand and waved slowly, then nudged Eros, hissing at him to get up as well.

Persephone flicked the switch on her kettle and made sure that there would be enough water for everyone. She set Pomelia on the counter furthest away from the kettle and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before trying to find some mugs.

She was glad that she had done the majority of the clean up last night before going to bed, so she didn't have to wade through empty pizza boxes again. The empty bottles of wine still sitting on the counter seemed to be looking at her with judgement, but she ignored it for now.

Psyche walked over to the kitchen, her hair now in a high ponytail and seemingly more awake.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Morning,” Hades replied.

Persephone wiggled a mug in Psyche’s direction who nodded gratefully, “thank you, one of those Jasmine teas if you have one.”

“Of course,” Persephone replied, opening a cupboard and reaching up to try and grab the box. She’d usually get up on the counter but she didn’t feel like scrambling up in front of so many people.

After a second of struggling another hand reached up and grabbed the box with ease. It was nothing like it had been the week before at Hades’ apartment, here he seemed too nervous and tried to avoid all contact with her.

“Thanks,” she said as he handed it over, “you want a drink?”

“Just a water please,” he said quietly.

She poured him a glass, and then got a shallow bowl for Pomelia to have a drink as well.

Eros made his way to the kitchen and cooed when we saw the small dog, “aww, puppy.”

Pomelia wagged her tail and jumped up as Psyche and Eros both petted her. She had her front paws on Psyche’s chest when the woman look at Hades, “what’s her name?”

Persephone was pouring the boiling water on the drinks so she nearly missed him saying, “Meli.”

Before she could argue Eros let out a confused noise, “that’s not what it says here.”

When Persephone turned around he was playing with the small dog tag hanging from her red leather collar. 

Hades blushed and looked embarrassed, like he had hoped that no one would notice.

“Well, it’s a nickname,” he said weakly. 

Persephone handed the coffee over to Eros, making sure that it was out of reach of the overexcited puppy. She left her and Psyche’s tea by the kettle and turned back to the flowers on her counter.

She had a glass vase that they would fit in in her bedroom so she turned to Hades and said, “I’ll be right back,” and walked down the corridor.

She pick up the vase and then remembered her phone on her bedside table. She picked it up and checked the text messages she’d missed this morning; Hades had texted her three times.

**Good morning**

**When are you free today?**

**Persephone?**

All the messages were before ten o’clock, but she could see that he had tried to call her at half past ten. His voicemail was quick, asking her to give him a call back, and he had apologised again for pushing her away in the week.

She felt awful for making him worry about her, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

She walked back into the living area and saw that Hades had removed Pomelia’s lead and she was now exploring the couches while the three sat down. She was mostly crawling across all their laps and getting as many cuddles and pets as she could, but Persephone couldn’t fault her for that.

She made herself busy in the kitchen, quickly cutting the ribbon and removing the tissue paper from the flowers before putting some water in the vase. Luckily she didn't have to cut the flowers down for them to fit so she just put them straight in the vase. She admired them for a second before grabbing her tea and sitting down.

The only space was next to Hades and she couldn’t help but feel a little underdressed in her pyjamas.

“Hades was telling us about how he found Meli,” Psyche filled her in, “she’s so lucky he was passing by.”

The little dog barked and then spun in a circle on Eros’ lap, as if to prove a point.

“I’m sure anyone else would’ve done the same,” Hades said quickly, but Persephone could see the tips of his ears turning red at the praise.

She took a quick sip of her tea and then put it down on the side table, reaching out her hands towards Eros.

“Sorry honeybee, your time is up,” she told him, “I want cuddles with my good girl.”

Pomelia cocked her head to the side as she looked at Persephone and then started wiggling excitedly, nearly scrambling off Eros’ lap altogether.

He just rolled his eyes and mumbled something about favouritism before picking her up and handing her over.

Pomelia settled into Persephone’s arms, licking under her jaw as a greeting and nuzzling further into her shoulder.

She looked up and met Hades’ eyes, he was looking at her tenderly, and Persephone found herself blushing from the attention. 

Psyche coughed and when Persephone looked over to her she was smirking, “so what are your plans for today?”

“Oh,” Persephone floundered for a second, “well, I’m thinking we’ll be taking Meli for a walk?” She looked at Hades who hesitantly nodded along with her, “and then I’ll probably need to do some grocery shopping.”

“Didn’t you do your shopping last night?” Eros asked and both Psyche and Persephone looked at him like he was crazy.

“That wasn’t a weeks worth of food,” Persephone rolled her eyes, “and the fact that you don't know that proves you shouldn’t ever be allowed near a kitchen.”

Eros stuck his tongue out at her and grabbed Psyche’s hand, “I’ll cook you a meal this week, just you see,”

Psyche patted him on the knee, “please don't try it.”

Persephone laughed at the offended look on Eros’ face and turned to Psyche, “what are your plans for the weekend?”

“Oh nothing really,” she replied, “I think I just want to sit at home and do absolutely nothing.”

“As you should, you deserve it.”

Pomelia decided to interrupt their conversation by putting her paws on Persephone’s shoulder and licking her cheek.

“Sorry girl, was I not giving you enough attention?”

She brushed her hand over her ears and kissed her forehead again. As she was leaning back she noticed the dog tag Eros had been playing with earlier, it was heart shaped and it had her name and Hades’ number.

It took Persephone a second longer than she would admit to realise why it stood out to her, “you changed it to Pomelia?” She asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

Hades’ own eyes widened and Persephone could see him swallow, “well, it is her name after all.”

He tried to pass it off casually but Persephone could see the way the skin around his eyes tightened with anxiety.

Persephone smiled widely at him, “of course it is.”

He smiled back slowly, it was almost like he was realising that she had practically already forgiven him and the relief was spreading across his face.

“Right,” Eros said, effectively putting an end to their moment, “we should be heading off now.”

Psyche nodded and stood up, picking up both hers and Eros’ mugs and carrying them into the kitchen.

“Are you sure?” Persephone asked, out of habit more than anything else. She felt torn, on one hand she wanted to be able to talk to Hades but didn't want to kick her friends out.

“Yeah,” Psyche said, already pulling her bag onto her shoulder, “I have a book and a blanket that is just calling my name.”

Persephone stood up, walking them to the door and taking Pomelia with her. She hugged Psyche who graciously accepted some kisses from the puppy and whispered a quick ‘text me later’ into her ear. 

Eros also gave her a hug, but opted for a salacious ‘get him girl’ to encourage her.

Persephone blushed and stuttered out her goodbyes as they left. 

She turned back to Hades and could feel the nervousness building up again. She sat down next to him, pulling her legs underneath her on the couch.

“Hi,” she whispered, half hiding behind Pomelia.

“Hi,” he whispered back, he glanced away for a second, took a deep breath and then looked into her eyes, “I’m sorry for being unbearably rude this week... I was under the impression that you were- uh,” he trailed off and seemed to give up on the sentence altogether.

“I was...?” Persephone was tempted to put him out of his misery, but another part of her wanted a full apology.

“I thought that you are Eros were...” He wrinkled his nose, “together? Romantically, that is.”

Persephone let out a laugh, she knew this already, but she still found the idea laughable and hearing him confirm it only added to her amusement. 

“He’s a good friend,” she said gently, “and I don't think about him in that way.”

Hades’ cheeks were slowly darkening, “I know that now.”

She looked at him for a moment, he seemed to be hunching down and he was fidgeting with his glass of water.

Persephone took it from him gently and put it on the table behind her.

“Shall we just start over?” she asked.

He looked at her hopefully and nodded.

“Okay, so I’m Persephone, I’m 22, currently doing a masters in biochemistry and moved to the city last month,” she smiled, “and I’m single.”

“I’m Hades, I’m 31, I work for a tech company and have more dogs than sense,” he licked his lips, “I’m also single.”

She shifted Pomelia slightly so she could free one hand, she held it out for Hades to shake.

He took her hand and used it to pull her closer to him. She swallowed as he leant in as well, her eyes glanced to his lips and she couldn’t help but notice as he did the same thing.

She smiled and closed the distance, pressing her lips to his. She freed her hand from his grip and ran her fingers through the hair at the back of his head, pulling him closer still.

His hands moved to her hips, running his fingers over the silk shorts she was wearing. 

It was only when he was playing with the hem that Pomelia decided she had had enough. She leant up and started licking under Hades’ jaw, whining to get more attention. Her current location, Persephone’s chest, gave her the perfect opportunity to quickly switch between the two as she begged for someone to play with her.

Persephone pulled away first and couldn’t help but laugh at the disgruntled look on Hades’ face. 

“Aww, does someone want kisses as well?” She asked, finding herself in a playful mood.

Hades rolled his eyes, “she’s too spoiled.”

Persephone dropped a quick kiss to Pomelia’s head and then kissed Hades’ cheek, “she’s just a baby, don’t be too grumpy.”

He laughed at her, “sweetness, how could I be grumpy right now?”

A buzzing cut Persephone off as she opened her mouth to reply, Hades just rolled his eyes and pulled his phone out.

“Yes?” He answered, mouthing ‘Poseidon’ at her.

“I’m with her now.”

She could hear some sort of cheering from down the phone and Persephone stood up, still smiling to herself. She moved to the kitchen and put Pomelia on the counter there so she could grab her own phone.

“Why is Zeus there?” Hades’ suspicious tone drew her attention and she looked over at him.

“No I didn’t mess it up Trite,” he sighed, “yes, she loved the flowers.”

Persephone was still looking at him and he seemed to grow nervous under her stare, he frowned, held the phone away from his ear and mouthed ‘what?’.

She shook her head and shrugged, resolving to tell him that she also spoke Greek as soon as he was off the phone.

“Stop being a pervert Zeus,” he said quickly.

Persephone typed out a quick text to Psyche and Eros, sending a ‘he explained everything and apologised again, I think I have a boyfriend now?!’ and a ‘I kissed him again!! If I don’t text back I’m probably making out with my new boyfriend!!’ to her friends respectively.

“I think so?” Hades’ uncertain voice caught her attention again, “we haven’t discussed it yet but maybe?”

There was a moments silence and he let out a laugh, “yes, I’ll ask if we can double date.”

He rolled his eyes and said goodbye quickly when he noticed Persephone was looking at him again.

She put Pomelia on the floor gently, the puppy looked at her reproachfully for a second before looking around the apartment. She was soon running down the corridor, eager to explore everything.

She ignored her phone, which had started buzzing, and walked over to Hades. She considered sitting back on the couch before sliding onto his lap. His hands settled on her hips again and Persephone rested her arms on his shoulders. 

“I owe you an apology,” she said, chewing the inside of her cheek.

He frowned, “I can’t imagine you have anything to apologise to me about.”

“Oh but I do,” she smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead before leaning back and slipping into her first language, “you see, I haven’t been completely honest.”

The smile on his face was frozen for a few seconds and he seemed to stop breathing, after he took a breath the smile slowly faded and his face transformed into a look of pure horror.

“Oh gods, you-“ he cut himself off, looking away and Persephone could practically see him reliving each one of their interactions from the past month.

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” she ran hand through her hair, “I just didn't know how to tell you, especially because your brothers were always there! I didn’t mean to invade your privacy.”

Surprising her completely, he started laughing, “don't worry, you’re completely forgiven, but oh gods, please let’s not tell my brothers’ straight away.”

Persephone understood his plan immediately, “you want to wait for the perfect opportunity to let them know?”

He nodded, “now you’re getting it.”

“Hmmm,” Persephone leaned forward and cradled his face in her hands, “how about when I was routing through my bag for my keys and Amphitrite was staring, and commenting, on my ass?”

Hades’ hands slowly moved from her hips, inching their way to the ass in question, “she did that?”

“Mhmm,” Persephone confirmed, pushing back into his hands, “I think she was even going to offer a threesome before Poseidon told her to knock it off.”

Hades laughed and his grip tightened for a brief second, “that sounds like her.”

“Does it?” Persephone asked innocently, rolling her hips in his hands. She could feel his growing interest pressing against her. She felt so confident with him, and was practically basking in the sound of his quick gasp and cut off moan.

“Y-yeah.”

Persephone could hear Pomelia running back down the corridor, but Hades was only paying attention to her right now.

She decided to tease him a little more. She leant forward, letting her hair fall over one shoulder and brush the side of his face, “you know what I think we should do?”

She watched as his pupils widened and he licked his lips again, “what?”

She smirked before leaning back, “take Pomelia on that walk we promised her.”

Hades groaned as Pomelia started trying to jump up on the couch, letting out a few excited yips as she heard her favourite words.

Persephone giggled and pressed a quick kiss to Hades’ cheek, “I won’t be long, I only need to get dressed.”

She nipped into the kitchen to pick her phone up, seeing a few texts from Psyche and Eros. They mostly just a lot of congratulations and exclamation marks.

“I think you should do the opposite,” he grumbled under his breath, clearly forgetting her most recent revelation.

“I bet you’d like that,” she replied, raising an eyebrow and smirking at him.

He blushed, obviously not expecting to be caught out, “that habit will be hard to shake.”

“Don't worry, I quite enjoy it,” Persephone called from the hall.

She rushed through her morning routine and dressed quickly, having already picked out the perfect outfit the night before. She was just pulling her heeled sandals on when Pomelia ran into the room, her little ears flopping around as she came.

Persephone grabbed her handbag and tried to move out of the room without stepping on the over-excited puppy. 

Hades smiled as she walked towards him, he was already holding Pomelia’s lead.

“You look lovely,” he said, quickly bending down to clip Pomelia in. She didn't seem to mind, most likely realising that she was about to get what she wanted.

“Thank you,” Persephone replied, she had picked the pale pink sundress out the night before, the colour hadn’t stood out to her before, but now she realised that it matched Hades’ pocket square.

She linked him as soon as she was out of the apartment, resting her head against his shoulder as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

They walked slowly to the same park they had gone to just the week before, Persephone was sharing small stories about her classes with Hades, and he even told her about a few of the meetings he’d been dragged into that week.

She enjoyed hearing him talk about his job, it was obvious that he loved it, even if it was stressful and kept him busy. She still didn't know exactly what it was that he did, but he seemed to be high up and important. He had just waved her off with a ‘oh, it’s boring’ when she asked about, as he had last time. 

When they reached the park Pomelia started rolling around in the grass and they both stopped to watch her enjoy herself for a second before trying to move her on.

They ended up sitting on the same bench as before, this time Hades stretched an arm across the back and Persephone gladly snuggled into his side.

Pomelia didn't fall asleep this time, but she did lie down and watch other people as they passed by.

“Were you hungover this morning?” Hades asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

“A little,” she admitted, biting her lip, “we were supposed to only have one bottle, but then you texted...”

“And that changed things?” He sounded confused.

“Well, Eros said we should celebrate, um, you pulling your head out of your ass,” she could feel herself blushing, rushing through Eros’ exact words from the night before. 

“Oh really?” Hades smirked, “so I’m the cause of your hangover am I?”

“Well,” Persephone tossed her hair over one shoulder, “you’re definitely a contributing factor, if not the direct cause.”

“But,” he frowned, “if you can speak Greek then you knew that I thought you were in a relationship. Why didn't you just say something?”

“I tried to, I tried to tell you that Eros was a good friend and we weren’t together but you kept cutting me off,” Persephone deflated, knowing it all sounded like excuses. “After that there wasn’t a good way to bring it up, you never asked me outright or even hinted that you thought I was taken when you spoke to me. I didn't want you to think I was a creep who was invading your privacy.” Her voice grew even smaller, “I thought that, after we kissed, you had realised, but then you just-“

He tightened his arm and murmured, “I’m sorry,” he took a deep breath, “I guess it’s true what they say about people who assume.”

Persephone smiled, “Psyche said the exact same thing.”

“Was this before or after she convinced you to drink three bottles of wine?”

She groaned, “please forget you saw that, and I didn't drink it alone, we shared it!”

“But still,” he said thoughtfully, “that’s a bottle each.”

She groaned again, “tell me about it, I think the adrenaline is keeping the headache at bay at this point.”

Hades laughed, “well I believe I did promise to always make you a meal if you were hungover.”

Persephone hummed thoughtfully, “that’s very true, only a scoundrel would break his promise.”

“Then I’d better make you something, I’m afraid the past week has push my scoundrel rating to the limit.”

Persephone smiled at him, “absolutely, but this morning has done wonders for bringing it back down.”

“I guess I’d better keep working at it then. So... tonight?” He asked hopefully.

She smiled widely, “of course.”

Hades let out a relieved breath, “it’s a date then.”

Persephone rolled her eyes and snuggled into his side, replying in Greek, so only he could understand, “I’d be upset if it wasn’t.”