Into the universe of EROS

Chapter 13

*Eros*

I reluctantly opened my eyes and found that we were back to where we had our date. The blanket was dirtier but it was still in the spot where we left it. It was the crack of dawn and the sky was couloured beautifully with an ombre of colours.

Ajax was already awake sitting at the edge of the banks looking out over the lake. He seemed glum. I crawled over to sit beside him and rested my head on his shoulder.

" I wish I could say I'm happy to be back" he said in a soft tone.

" At least you get to see your family again." I said trying to comfort him.

" Yeah, I guess so" he replied trying to pass off a fake smile. I seen right through it.

" If you don't mind me asking, why do you and your family have such a strange relationship?" I asked.

He took a moment to think before responding, " To be honest it's complicated and I really don't want to think about that right now. I just want to be in the moment. Like our date" he said as a smile spread across his face and he reached in to kiss me.

" I get that. At least you'll always have me" I said as I squeezed myself into his side.

"That's pretty much all I want" he said though I could here the doubt in his voice. I chose to ignore it just so that we could enjoy this moment.

After the sun had set Ajax and I had hugged and went our separate ways.

As I was about to enter through the front door, I recalled the so called music I would have to face. What was I even going to tell Aunt Sylvie. It had been a few weeks and I doubt she'd let me off without an explanation.

I slowly creaked open the door and snuck my way upstairs. It was still relatively early and I knew no one would be awake yet. I slipped through my room door and was surprised to find Aunt Sylvie and my little sister both sleeping in my bed.

I felt a pang in my heart as I thought about how heartbroken they must've been. I sat on my desk chair and after a while I drifted off to sleep.

A sudden burst of pain in my stomach forced my eyes open. Paris had hurled herself at me, clutching me in a tight embrace.

"Where did you go. We missed you!" she wailed.

" I'm sorry Paris. I didn't mean to make you worry. I just... it's hard to explain." I said as I glanced over at Aunt Sylvie. She seemed relieved but I knew she was waiting to talk to me about it.

After calming Paris down, Aunt Sylvie and I made our way downstairs to talk about where I was. Walking down the stairs my brain was in overdrive as I tried to think of some excuse that would explain my disappearance and actually make sense.

" Soo, who is the girl that's so special she could keep my law abiding nephew away from home for over two week? TWO WHOLE WEEKS, Eros!" Aunt Sylvie yelled.

" It's not like that. I didn't go missing for a love sick fantasy." I tried to defend myself making my list of possible excuses even shorter.

"So, what was it Eros!? What was so important and unavoidable that you disappeared without a trace and without so much as a text message. You said you'd be out for one night Eros. One!" I just looked down, knowing that no answer would justify my disappearance.

" I understand that your whole world was turned upside down by your parents' death" She said, and a familiar pang in my heart bubbled up.

" But I've been trying so hard and I just can't understand why you would do this. I've been putting up with you shutting me out and disappearing for short periods of time, I even overlooked your many unjustified absences from school but this , I can't just ignore. You aren't the only one who was affected by their deaths. I miss them too an I don't even want to talk about Paris. I thought that we were getting better. I thought that we were getting close to experiencing just a little bit of joy. So please, tell me what I'm doing wrong Eros. Help me help you." the pain in her voice was evident. It made me feel even worse than before.

I couldn't blame her for exploding. It was a long time coming and she's been holding in a lot to be strong for us. She deserved better. She went through the pain of losing her sister and she took on the immense responsibility of two children all on the same night.

"Go to your room until you're ready to open up. I'm afraid unless you do so you're grounded." she said as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

I stood up and began towards the stairs letting out a sincere "I'm sorry" before I vanished up the rest of the steps . I felt the build up of tears threatening to fall if I thought about the situation too much. Deciding not to hold it in, I smashed my face into my pillow and let it all out.