In the Beginning

Readjusting

Once Hayes and I had gotten into his car, we started driving towards his apartment. The car ride was silent. I was contemplating if I wanted to stay in New Mount so that I could help everyone or if I should leave with Hayes and start our lives together. Maybe in the Underworld. But Valentina was right. Although I hated my mom, she was still here. And maybe my friends here had hurt me in the past, but things had changed once we returned to being gods and goddesses. But then again that made me think, did the friends I had here only want me because of what I did for them? Great. Now I'm overthinking.  

I felt eyes on me. As I turned my head to face Hayes instead of the window, he quickly turned to face the road again. "Are you upset?" I asked him. He laid his hand to rest on my thigh. "No, Stephanie. I'm not upset, at least not at you." "Then who are you mad at? Valentina?" He answered me, "Yes. I don't understand why they think I should forgive Zach. I have a right to be angry at him. He tried to kill me." I rested my hand on top of his. "You're right. He did try to kill you and you need time, but she was right about one thing..." I took a deep breath. "I think I want to stay. At least for a little while." He turned to face me again and he looked confused. "Why? To stay with your mom who hurt you? Or the so called friends who also hurt you?" "Yes they did hurt me, but they apologized. I want to help them. I also want to understand my powers more." "We don't need them." I know I don't need them. "And I also don't need you, either. I lived multiple lifetimes without you, Hayes." He seemed angry. He lifted his hand off of my thigh. I could feel him getting furious again. I didn't want to be there anymore. And just like that, my body teleported away from Hayes. 

When my feet hit the ground again, I was in Hayes's apartment. My head was spinning and I felt like throwing up. I don't know why I ended up in his apartment. I think that although I was upset at Hayes, I still wanted to be near him. That's the crazy thing about love I guess. 

A couple minutes later, there was a dark cloud of black smoke appearing in his apartment. And then a couple of more seconds later, Hayes had teleported into his apartment. We just looked at each other. Not saying a word. I crossed my arms and stayed by his kitchen, while he was beside his bed. He started walking towards me and finally stopped right in front of me. "I guess I don't need my car anymore." I didn't want to laugh. I wanted him to understand me; why I wanted to stay. 

When I didn't laugh and kept my serious demeanor, he just looked down. "I'm sorry, Stephanie. I should understand why you need to stay. And I get why you don't need me, but when you said that, it really- hurt- well, me." I could tell that being a god again was overwhelming for him and I could've been more understanding. His brother tried to kill him and he had to put on this tough front so that nobody would see how scared he actually was. I dropped my arms, "Hayes, I'm sorry too. You were probably so scared and I hurt you." A tear fell from his eye and I felt so bad for him. And as the tear fell, he fell to his knees and he brought his hands to his eyes. I dropped down too and I held him close to my chest as he wept. I had never seen him like this before. I was glad that he felt comfortable enough to be this vulnerable, but I couldn't help but feel terrible. 

He grabbed onto my arm as I held him. Once he had stopped crying, he looked up at me with those red eyes that were now puffy. "Stephanie, I'm sorry. I don't want you to think I'm manipulating you." I shook my head. "No, I don't think that. I'm sorry that I didn't see how much all of this had affected you. I was so consumed by my new power, I thought that you were just angry when you were actually hurt." He responded, "I promise you that I will never hurt you, be angry with you or make you choose between your family and me ever again because your family is my family too. Wherever you go I will follow you. You are my everything." I kissed his forehead. 

We walked over to his bed and he fell to sleep. I was tired too, but I couldn't sleep. He laid on my chest and I couldn't stop thinking about all of this. How crazy everything had gotten since I arrived here. I think about what my life used to be and how it is now. I am a goddesses. I love who I've become and I love what I am, but it scares me too. 

I think Hayes could sense what I was feeling. He sat up, "Come here." He opened his arms and now I was the one laying on his chest. He wrapped his arm around me as I tried falling asleep. 

...

I woke up hours later and I couldn't feel where Hayes was. I smelled eggs and I knew Hayes was making breakfast. I got up from the bed and walked towards Hayes. "You're awake. I hope I didn't disturb you when I got up from the bed, but I thought you'd be hungry." I wrapped my arms around his waist from the back. "You didn't and thank you, this is perfect." With his free arm he lifted one of my hands and kissed it. Then he turned around and kissed me on the lips. It felt different. Like we knew each other much more now so now kisses were more intense. Like my lips felt electric and I could feel his lips all over my body. I let go first and looked up at him, "That was-" "Yeah, much different. Much better." He kissed my forehead and then turned around to keep cooking. I walked over to the bathroom to look at myself. I hadn't looked at myself since I changed back to being a goddess. I was scared of what I was going to look like. I reached the mirror but I couldn't bring myself to look. I took a deep breath in and slowly titled my head up. I looked into the mirror. My eyes were white with a jet black iris in the middle. My skin was still gleaming. The flowers in my hair were still there. My hair reached well past my waist. I looked different. I liked it. "This is your best look yet." As those words came out of Hayes's mouth, it reminded me of my first few days here. I turned around to see Hayes looking me up and down. I quickly walked to him and I kissed him. He put his hand on the back of my head in order to hold me even tighter. Our tongues were intertwining with each others and every movement was like magic. He let go and then grabbed my hand as we walked into his shower. We did more than simply shower.