Princess On the Run

Chapter 14

Thea's POV

I didn't know how to respond to his question. 'Why do you call your mom Lina?'

I honestly didn't even realize I was doing it. It was sort of just a habit I guess.

"Well, I just call her that in front of you because that's what you refer to her as. Ya know... so you don't get confused..." I winced as it came out of my mouth. 

He frowned at me for a second but then he nodded in understanding, "okay. That makes sense. Thanks I guess?" He wasn't going to push the subject? I guess I should be happy, but something about this didn't seem right... 

"Yeah, no problem. Anything for a... friend?" I blushed and looked away from him. I was making this so much more awkward than it had to be.

A smirk appeared on his face, and the questioning look on his face vanished, "I wasn't aware that friends kiss." 

"Well we haven't really talked about what we are other than that time in front of May so I thought the safest thing to say would be friends, but I mean if you want to-" 

"Princess, will you officially be my girlfriend?" He had a slight smile on his face, but the words came out strained. 

"Are you sure? I don't want to force you into a relationship, you seem to not want this." I frowned at him. 

He leaned down and kissed me. The kiss said it all. He was telling me everything his words couldn't express. It made me feel weak at the knees and grateful that he was holding me in his grasp.

"I'm sure princess. More sure than I've ever been in my life." He smiled into the kiss and opened his eyes to meet mine. 

I smiled back up at him and nodded. "Okay... then yes, I'll be your girlfriend Ares." 

He was about to open his mouth to speak when a door behind me swung open, causing both of us to look towards the abrupt noise. 

"You two. In here now! You may have gotten good grades on the first test, but that's not an excuse to skip my class." 

She didn't have to tell us twice. 

--- 

Ares' POV

As we sat in lunch, Thea told my table about this movie she watched growing up, and I sort of just stared at her as she talked, letting my mind wander. 

Thea's excuse for why she called her 'mom' Lina was bullshit. I knew that just as much as her, but I had to keep my knowledge a secret. I felt bad about leading her on and lying, but not enough to stop. I had to finish the job, or my dad would probably have me killed. And no, that's not an exaggeration. 

Asking her to be my girlfriend felt wrong and actually hurt coming out of my mouth. I hated the idea of being in a relationship, even if it was fake. It went against all of my beliefs as a child, but if this is what it was going to take for her to come forward, then so be it. Plus, kissing her wasn't bad. I would honestly be okay with her being the only girl I kissed for the rest of my life. That's only because of the physical attraction though, there was no romance or emotion involved... right?

I felt my phone ring in my pocket and looked at the caller ID. My dad. It was then that I realized someone else at the table had started talking, and that Thea's eyes were curiously trying to see who was calling. I hid it from her and stood from the table. 

"I'm gonna go outside and talk to my dad, I'll be right back." I gave her a kiss on the cheek and left the cafeteria. I wasn't sure if she'd seen my brother or dad's face that day 2 weeks ago, but I didn't want to test it.