Princess On the Run

Chapter 7

Thea's POV:

I couldn't keep the smile off my face. The ride was fun, amazing actually, but that wasn't my favorite part. Not even close.

He kissed me to take the nerves away, but now I had butterflies in my stomach for a completely different reason. And his smile... it made my day.

As we got off the ride, I looked at Ares, "you smiled," I said. As I spoke a similar expression appeared on my own face as well. 

He smiled back shyly, "it feels weird." 

I giggled, "you'll get used to it."

"Only around you." He leaned down and placed a quick peck on my lips, "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." He led me to a bench and walked away. 

I took out my phone to text Cora about how the date was going. I just told her the basics since we weren't really that close yet. As I was typing I felt a hand go around my shoulder and could see a guy sitting next to me in my peripheral vision. I smiled, "Wow you weren't lying when you said you'd be right ba..." I looked up and was surprised to see a guy my age with a smirk on his face. 

"I would really like it if you took your hand off of me, please." My father taught me to be polite to everyone, even when I really didn't want to. Princess stuff. 

"Ya know... I bet I can make you feel a lot better than that asshole you're with. Wanna see for yourself?" He gave me another smirk and tightened his grip around my shoulder. I could see the darkness in his eyes, probably from lust. 

"No thank you. I asked you to please take your hand off me, and while your at it, please walk off the edge of a cliff." I gave him a polite smile and began trying to pry his hand off of me. His grasp only tightened more, and it was beginning to hurt. 

"Ooh feisty. I like it. Its too bad though, I didn't ask your permission."  He leaned in to place wet kisses down my neck and held my hands in his grip before I had the chance to use them against him. I did not survive murder to have this happen to me, hell no. 

I stomped on his foot so hard that he yelled out in pain and then stood up once his grip loosened. I immediately backed away and began frantically searching for Ares. He was no where in sight. 

The guy got up angrily and growled before pushing me straight onto the rocky gravel. I hissed in pain and could feel the skin on my hands burning. I was probably bleeding but I couldn't look down to check. Even the thought of it made me sick. He walked towards me again feircly, so I swiped his feet out from under him causing him to fall in the rocks along with me. I got to my feet quickly and used all the strength I had to kick him in the balls. 

He groaned in agony and I thought he would stay in a ball long enough for me to leave, but he ignored the pain and grabbed my foot right as I was starting to sprint away. I fell face first into the rocks and felt my cheeks scrape the ground as it happened. Tears welled up in my eyes as he got up and walked closer to me with a cruel smirk still ingrained on his face. I wanted to move, but whole body hurt from the harsh fall. 

He walked towards me and kicked me in the stomach, "you little bitch. This is what happens when you mess with me." He went to kick me again, but was interrupted by the sound of cups and food dropping to the floor. 

Standing in front of us was Ares looking scarier than I had ever seen him. His hands were clenched into fists, his jaw was tense, and his eyes... they were narrow and cold. His nostrils flared as he growled slowly, "what the fuck do you think you're doing." 

Ares' POV:

To say I was livid would be an understatement. I was fucking ballistic. I wanted to rip the motherfucker to shreds for hurting Thea. I walked over as fast as I could and shoved him away from her. 

I was going to just knock him out cold with one punch, but then I turned to see Thea. She looked so scared and her eyes were filled with tears. It looked like she was too hurt to even get up, and her cheek was all scraped up. Nope knocking him out cold would be too nice. I was going to fuck him up. 

I turned back to him and sent a quick punch right into his jaw. I could hear a slight cracking noise as he stumbled back. I moved forward as he backed away and sent another punch into his stomach. As he fell to his knees, I punched him in the face again, this time being sure to cause a black eye. He fell to the floor coughing up blood and I decided to leave him there. As much as I wanted to kill him, I had to check on Thea. 

I turned, expecting to see her still lying on the ground where I saw her last, but instead I saw her curled up in a ball against the wall crying silently. I walked to her quickly and tried to make eye contact with her, but her eyes seemed to be glued to the blood on the pavement. I sat down and blocked her view and pulled her into my arms, tightly hugging her. All of a sudden she let out a muffled sob and a heartbreaking sound as she let her trapped pain escape. 

"Shh. You're okay now princess. I'm here." I let her cry in my arms and placed gentle kisses on the top of her head. I know that guy hurt her, but something inside me was telling me this wasn't because of that. I looked at the blood on the floor behind me and wondered if that's what caused this. I'd have to ask my dad about it next time I saw him. 

Thea's POV:

Having Ares hold me in his arms made me feel better, but I couldn't get the image of my family dead on the floor in front of me out of my head. It was haunting. 

I looked up at Ares just as he looked down at me. I was embarrassed to let him see me like this, but I was grateful to have him here with me. It had only been two weeks, and I certainly wasn't even close to being done grieving. I don't know if I'd ever fully recover. My family was all I knew, especially since I had only left the castle a handful of time. I was surprised I even found my way to Lina's house considering I had only been there once. 

"I'm sorry." I whispered, still looking up at Ares. My mascara was probably washed away by now, and I'm pretty sure my face looked horrible. It felt horrible. 

"There's nothing to be sorry about princess. I'm sorry for leaving you all by yourself, especially here." He looked around us and analyzed our surroundings. We were in a very secreted part of the park and few people had walked by. The guy must have left while I was crying, because he was no where to be found. I looked at the dried blood on the ground once more causing a shiver to run down my spine. 

"And I'm sorry for beating up that guy. I didn't know you would react like this." He frowned at me, but also seemed to be reading me. 

"What? Don't apologize for that! He deserved it." I giggled and was beginning to feel more like myself. 

"But it made you cry." He gave me a confused look. 

"It wasn't you beating him up that made me cry Ares. It... it was the blood ." My voice lowered as I spoke, as if I said a bad word. 

"Why would blood make you cry? What happened?" Wow all of a sudden this guy had a lot to say. Usually I was the one asking the questions. 

"A... traumatic experience." I nodded once, satisfied with my answer. I trusted Ares, but I didn't want to bum out our date more than I already had.

"Traumatic? What happened Thea?" He looked so concerned. It made me want to tell him about my horrible life, but I knew it would make me cry again, and I couldn't handle that.

"I'll tell you, just not right now. I think I've done enough crying for one day." I gave him a small smile and tried to stand up. I failed miserably, and fell into Ares' hands groaning in pain. My stomach was definitely bruising.

"I'll be ready to listen whenever you're willing to tell me, but right now let's get you cleaned up."