Moonchild

CHAPTER FIVE: PENELOPE

"May I kiss you?"

The sentence alone sent shivers down my spine and a funny feeling in my hips. Nova began to growl and yip at me.

"Apollo..." I said weakly. His eyebrows rose in expectation, his eyes hopeful. I could feel his warm hands on my waist.

"Yes..." He mimicked my voice, a smile on his face.

"It's too soon." I whispered and backed away from him. I wrapped my arms around myself. "I just met you this morning."

"What's the point of waiting? We were chosen to be together!" Apollo reached for my hand but I moved. "Penelope, you and I are meant to be forever."

"I can see why Persephone called you a hopeless romantic." I muttered. Apollo's cheeks went red. "Anyway, I'm just not ready for this stuff yet. I've never been kissed before and I don't want it to be at the wrong time."

The intensity in Apollo's eyes disappeared and he nodded. "I understand." He thought for a moment. "What'd you say to skipping this dinner and playing video games in my room? Or Netflix?"

I smiled. "As long as I get to pick the genre of movie." I held out my hand and Apollo grinned. He pulled me through the crowd and right past his father, who only winked at his son.

Ten minutes later, we had locked ourselves in his room with two boxes of pizza and a case of soda. I had chosen to watch a scary movie, one I had never seen. I was clinging to the blankets of Apollo's bed with one hand and holding a piece of pizza with the other.

"Have you seen this one?" Apollo asked as he crawled in next to me. He was wearing sweatpants and a workout tank, which gave me a great view of his biceps. He ran a hand through his hair and it fell on his forehead in curls.

"Nope. After living in the woods for most of my life, I haven't seen most movies." I mumbled around a mouthful of pizza. Apollo chuckled and chugged a soda. I squinted at him in the light of the television. "Is your hair naturally curly?"

"Yeah. So is Charon's." He gave me a look. "Why do you ask?"

"Your hair looks kinda curly now, so I got curious." I took a bite of pizza. "Don't judge me."

"I'm not judging." He laughed and turned back to the movie. "Man, this is my favorite scary movie. Charon made me watch it a few years back and I loved it."

"It's slightly morbid, loving a scary movie." I teased. I had been surprised how easy it was for me to talk to Apollo. Either it was the mate bond between us or it was just his personality, but I felt like we were old friends. It made it easy to look past the events of the morning.

Something jumped out on screen and I buried my face in the pillows, squealing. Apollo only laughed. "I didn't take you for a screamer."

"That was terrifying." I whimpered. Apollo squeezed my hand and wrapped his arm around me.

"I've got you." He murmured. "I'm here."

********

We watched three movies and then turned on a random show. The two of us had finished off the pizza and soda.

I was snuggled into Apollo's chest, comforted by his beating heart and the rise and fall of his chest. His chin was resting on the top of my head, his soft snores mixing with the Netflix show.