Daring To Love The Daughter of Hades

Beauty in Ruin Things

The passing months had been wonderful. Every moment they could, they were together. When they needed space, they gave space. They were growing in their relationship. They were happy. One thing was still in the back of Mellie's mind. She never truly said who her parents were, but she never lied either.

"Has he asked about us?" Persephone asked one night when she joined her parents for dinner. It was the first time since she moved out that they had an at home meal together.

"No. I haven't lied. He knows your real names and Grandmother's too. I told him that Danny is in the receiving and shipping business and mom is your business partner for half of the year. The other half is with Grandmother in the agriculture industry." Mellie explained, pushing her food around. Tears welled up in her eyes. "What if he doesn't want to be with me anymore because of it?" Persephone stood up and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

Hades stood up too and went to her. "My little dark flower. Danny is a unique young man. I can't place my finger on it, but he understands more than he lets on. The time will come when you need to show your true self. I know that he will still be at your side." Hades kissed her forehead. He had seen how much Danny adored his daughter. The boy looks at Mellie like he looks at Persephone still.

*

She finds beauty in ruined things. Danny thought, scrolling through assortment of pictures on her computer. Mellie's photography business was taking off nicely. She was working on a picture book for a client's gothic child. They wanted to give them a nice birthday present. Mellie was the perfect person for the job.

It wasn't anything for Danny to call her and learn to she was heading to some abandon place to take pictures. He went with her when he could. The old music boxes placed in front of cracked mirrors. The remains of lace curtains hung against broken windows. The hazy evening light of an old cemetery. What people saw as something disgusting or weird, she found intriguing and elegant.

This is what she truly loved. Her apartment was full of the macabre. A glass terrarium coffee table filled with dried flowers and animal bones. Photos of decaying places and things adorned her walls. Bottles and jars filled with odd things. Dolls of questionable origins. Knick knacks that could be from the underworld. She was able to find herself since moving out of her parents' home. Danny loved that about her.

"Babe, what do you think about the photos?" Mellie asked, returning to her office with lunch and drinks. Danny and Mellie were hanging out and she asked if he could look at the pictures she selected for the book.

"You know, you have shown me there is more beauty out in the world that people realized." Danny replied, starting on lunch. "I know they are going to be happy with it." He popped chips in his mouth.

"I hope so." Mellie sighed. She did not realize that Danny had closed out the file and something caught his eye in the desktop. A file labeled 'Danny'.

"You are obsessed with me." He said in a sing song voice when it showed to be all the pictures Mellie took of Danny.

"I take pictures of what I love." She kissed his cheek. Scrolling through, most of candid of their lives together, a few were posed, and he was playing it up for her and a bit were when she could catch him asleep.

He smiled at her. There was a few hundred of her on his phone. His favorite one was one on his locked screen. He was able to get one of her sleeping on his chest while taking a nap with him.

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