Chapter Forty-five

Athena's POV

A smile appears on his face as he look back at the view in front of us, ''Do you?'' He says, gently hitting his arm with my shoulder; making me smirk and push him slowly.

Then we both end up watching the sky—just smiling at the view. He's actually smiling, I thought to myself. I look down at the wedding ring as it shines brightly from the sunlight before he places his hand on top of mine and catching my attention, ''But seriously—'' He clears his throat, eyeing my every feature, ''—do you?''

I cross my arms, ''Do you?'' I ask again.

He narrows his eyes at me, ''Do you?''

''Do you?'' I repeat.

''Do you?'' He leans closer.

''Do you?'' I push him back a little with my index finger and he roll his eyes, feeling slightly annoyed. ''Ha, you're very egoistic.'' I mutter under my breath and within seconds, his face is already inches from mine, showing how unsatisfied he is with the personality I gave him.

''I'm not egoistic.'' He shakes his head, ''I'm just determined.'' Then he gives me a-I'm-cool-and-you're-not-look which causes me to fake a loud laugh. ''It's not funny, cut if off.'' He mumbles and I keep quiet, not wanting to bother him.

Then I feel him nearing me before resting his chin on my shoulder and wrapping his arms around my waist. I immediately feel awkward by the sudden embrace but I need to get used to it somehow. He breathes out on my neck before planting a soft, passionless kiss on my neck.

He mumbles something into my neck but I couldn't hear it clearly which causes me to turn my head, ''What did you say?'' I ask and he shakes his head, eyeing my face from behind before nearing my ear.

''You gained a little weight.'' He whispers softly into my ear and I groan in frustration; making him laugh and wrap his arms around me tighter.

''I know that wasn't it. You said something else.'' I reply. It was like a different tone. It wasn't long either but it wasn't clear so I can't justify. I continue to cross my arms as he hums a few song in between my ear and neck but I just ignore him—wanting to remember what he said earlier.

''Alex.'' We both hear someone say from behind and Alex let go of me slowly but his hands are placed on my hips before turning us around; eye to eye with one of his cousins, ''Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you guys.'' She says and I see Alex nodding his head, ''Theo's been looking for you.'' She adds.

''What does he want?'' He let go of me before sighing deeply, showing how much he doesn't want Theo being in his sight.

''I don't know.'' She replies as she shrugs before turning around and walking down the stairs.

''Maybe he has something important to say.'' I hold onto one of his shoulder and say softly. He looks down at my face and entwine our fingers together, ''What?'' I raise an eyebrow.

''You're coming with me.'' He pouts, ''You'll protect me if he tries to hurt me.'' Then he clench his jaw, holding back the urge to laugh. I grin at him, ''You're my princess after all, her knight has to rest for awhile and let the princess do her duties.'' The next words causes my cheeks to heat up.

''Fine.'' I say and he starts to pull me down the stairs.

Once we reach downstairs, almost all of the men are talking quietly. Some looks at us but only for a short second. Alex pulls me until we reach the backyard but before I could take a step outside, he stops me from doing so, ''What?'' I ask him, feeling confused. My eyes wander to look at Theo who has his back on us.

''Stay here.'' He replies.

''You said to protect you, you idiot not to stay here and watch.'' I roll my eyes.

He ignores me, ''Whatever just stay here.'' Then he let go of my hand as he starts walking toward Theo. I sigh as I stand near the wall—eyeing their every movement. Alex stands beside Theo and Theo starts to turn around to look at him. Theo starts talking and it looks like they're talking about something serious.

''What the hell are you talking about?'' I hear Alex ask, his voice raising. Theo clenches his jaw and gripping Alex's arm. Alex pushes him away a bit too rough, ''Don't.'' He warns; and Theo stops walking forward.

''He was stable. His heart rate was doing fine. There were no possibilities of death—'' Theo starts talking but Alex cuts him off.

''So you're saying that I killed him?'' Alex says. Theo looks at him but not saying a word. Alex let out a sarcastic laughter, ''Who do you think you are?'' He continues as he stands tall in front of Theo, ''You're not even his son. You should be thankful that he even took care of you and raised you well but fuck you for saying that I killed my own father.''

Theo pinches the bridge of his nose as Alex continues to talk, ''He shouldn't have brought you in if he knew you would be this ungrateful. I may not know my own father but as a son, I respect and forgive him for what he had done but you blaming me? You fucked up for that.''

As if Theo couldn't hold his anger anymore for bringing up all the good deeds that Alex's father has done to him, he punches Alex on the face and everyone who saw the scene immediately stops doing whatever they were doing. My grip on the wall loosen as I see Alex touch his nostrils, wiping blood off. He stands up and let out a breath before loosening his tie and throwing it down on the ground.

Alex pushes Theo roughly before gripping his collar and punching him. They both continue to fight each other as they fall down on the ground and keep on throwing punches at one another. I quickly walk toward them but its like I have lost control over my own body and my own will, ''Stop it.'' I say but it wasn't loud enough.

One of Alex's cousin walks out and he starts to pull Theo away but Alex pulls him back and pushes his cousin away. Alex grips him hard before pushing him onto the wall. They are staring deadly at each other and I can see the veins popping on Alex's hands and it took me awhile to realise that his nose is bleeding and he has a cut near his eyebrow, ''He gave you everything. If money is all you need, then take it. Take all of his fortunes because I don't need it but don't accuse me of something that I would never do.'' He says, roughly pressing him hard onto the wall.

Alex turns around, walking away from Theo and I stay still at my spot. Theo seems to be unsatisfied and he pulls himself from the wall and starts walking toward Alex. I try to stop him but he just pushes my hand away. Before he could pull Alex again, a familiar body appears out of nowhere—stopping him from doing so.

''It's done.'' Jon says, holding hard onto Theo's arm. ''Now, back off.'' He adds.

Everyone was shocked to see what happened. Theo pulls his hand roughly and starts walking out of the backyard and into his car before drifting away, fast. Jon looks at me but Liam comes running in and he's already in front of me within seconds. Jon walks fast—following Alex walking out of the house.

''You're okay?'' Liam asks, touching my jaw and checking my hands. I remain still but once I realise that he's overly—worried about me, I nod my head and gently pull my hand away from him.

''I'm fine.'' I reply, ''Liam, what are you doing here?'' I ask and I eye down his outfit. Seeing that he's wearing an all black suit. It means that he knew about the funeral. Does that mean he knows about Alex's father? Or even more, his mother?

''I'm his friend, of course I'm here.'' He says, ''The second time, I must say.'' Then it hit me. He knows. Then he pulls me into the house before walking back out through the front door. I look up and see Alex wiping off his blood with a towel that Jon gave him. Jon leans his back on Alex's car as Alex focuses on his nose.

Jon looks at me, ''Hey girl.'' He smiles widely and I smile back at him. Alex peeks through the towel and look at us as Jon and I hug for awhile.

Alex furrow his eyebrows, ''What's with the hugging? Is it a new way of saying hello?'' He says as Jon and I break the hug. Liam clears his throat from behind and Jon just remain silent, not wanting to bring up another argument.

I walk toward him, ''Let me do it for you.'' I say, trying to reach out for the towel but he turns his body sideways, not wanting me to touch him. Sighing, ''Okay, do it yourself.'' And I back away a little, crossing my arms.

Alex breathes out and his blood drops onto the ground; making him curse under his breath. He continues to hold onto his nose as he looks at the three of us. Liam rubs the back of his neck as he tries to look at something inside Alex's car, ''Don't—'' Alex raises his index finger and Liam stops moving, ''—touch my car.''

Liam raises his hands in surrender.

''Are you sure you don't need Athena's help?'' Jon asks.

''I'm fine. You guys are making this a big deal.'' He replies, feeling annoyed.

''What about Theo?'' I ask, asking about his condition. It looked like Alex was the one being control back there but he's getting hurt like a little girl. I turn to look at him as I hear him mutter 'ow' under his breath. He hides it by clearing his throat.

''Dark bruise on the cheek and a cut on the bridge of his nose. Not as bad as lover boy here.'' Jon chuckles—pointing at Alex with his mouth.

''Hey, I gave him worse.'' Alex says in dissatisfaction, ''And it's just a nose bleed, nothing big. It's not that my nose is broken or anything.'' He wipes off his nose and remove the towel. His nose is bright red—making him look like Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.

''You'll probably have a scar with that one near your brow.'' Jon points at his eyebrow and Alex groan, probably not wanting anything to ruin his image. Not even a scar. Liam laughs from behind and Jon just smirks in justice.

''How dare he accused me for doing such things.'' Alex says out of nowhere. ''What a dick.'' He mutters out loud and his eyes widen immediately. We all look behind us, seeing that one of his aunty is just walking out with a kid around five years old. His aunt narrow her eyes at him, ''Um, wh-wha-what a view.'' Alex stutters.

The kid looks up at his mother, ''Mom, what's a dick?'' He asks and Liam bursts out laughing while Jon shakes his head as he let out soft chuckles. His aunt walks away quickly but not without giving Alex a look that he'll receive payback soon enough.

Alex sighs unknowingly, ''And now that kid will keep on asking her about the meaning.''

''He's your cousin.'' Jon replies, stating the obvious.

''Ah, I can't even think straight.'' Alex shakes his head, wiping off his blood again. ''How does my nose look?'' He asks me and I look at his nose and I see blood coming out once more.

''Not so good. It looks broken, don't you think, Jon?'' I cross my arms as I pretend to think. Alex's eyes widen as he turns around to look at his nose from the car's windows but the tinted windows prevent him from doing so. ''It looks weird now.'' I add.

''Athena, you shouldn't have told him about that. He's going to be really upset finding out that his nose is crooked.'' Jon places his index finger on his lips, asking me to keep quiet. Alex looks at us with worry shown on his face, ''He might as well quit his career.''

''Fuck, guys this isn't funny.'' Alex groans.

''Are we laughing?'' I raise an eyebrow as both of me and Jon pretending to give him a serious expression. Alex looks at us and he grabs Liam's phone from his grasp.

''What are you doing?'' Liam asks as I see Alex opening the front camera. He looks closely at his nose and he breathes out calmly. Jon starts to laugh while Liam looks at Alex in confusion.

''Fuck you, Jon and you—'' He points at me, ''—you're going to get something when we get home.'' Jon's eyes widen immediately and Liam joins him within seconds. They smirk as they look at one another; probably thinking of something kinky.

''I see where this is going.'' Liam says, ''We're going to have a little Alex soon, Jon. Maybe two? Maybe three? I can't wait to be the baby's godfather.'' He says sarcastically.

''Nothing's going to happen.'' I push him playfully and he chuckles softly.

Jon pulls himself from the car and pat Alex on the shoulder, ''Hey, where's the food? After all the mess that you've done, I'm pretty hungry myself.'' He asks before walking inside the house with Liam, leaving me and Alex alone.

Alex's nose is still bright red and I think he looks quite adorable. Can't really tell him that because god knows how much he loves getting compliments. I sigh as I watch him fix his hair and wiping the non-existing blood on his nose, ''There's no more blood.'' I say and he stops wiping.

He walks closer toward me before pointing at his nose, ''All gone, right?'' He asks and I nod my head, holding onto his collar and fixing his shirt. He continues to look down at me as I spontaneously move my hands down to his chest.

''You look like you weren't even hurt in the first place.'' I add.

''It was painful, to be honest.'' He whispers, ''Don't tell anyone I said that.'' And he quickly walks inside, as I chuckle before following him.

Alex's aunt—Tanya turns around as soon as Alex pass through the front door, she has an unsatisfied look on her face, ''What happened out there with Theo?'' She asks and I walk next to him, afraid if he might not be able to control his temper, ''I thought he said talking but what happened wasn't talking. That was arguing, fighting and hurting each other.'' She adds, ''Alex, I'm talking to you and when I talk, I expect answers.''

''He accused me for killing my own father, how would I react? Hug him and tell that it's alright to say so because I didn't have a great relationship with him in the first place? Or should I just punch him in the face and make him realise that he's messing with the wrong person.'' Alex replies before clenching his jaw and sighing in frustration.

''Everything was finally going great for once. For once, Alex. For god's sake, we finally have the chance to meet you. We lost your father but we don't want to lose you and we don't want to lose Theo even though he's not truthfully a part of this family but your father took care of him and loved him, so he's one of us. Families don't fight, we settle things nicely.'' She crosses her arms.

''Yeah, well families don't accuse.'' He says, ''And don't you ever say that everything was finally going on right because nothing is going great. Doesn't mean that I show up on my dad's funeral, doesn't mean that my relationship with each one of you, heals tremendously. I don't even think I know any of you. I don't even know my own father so how could I know you.''

Tanya looks at Alex without saying a single word. She shakes her head before walking away toward the kitchen—not bothering to keep on arguing with Alex because she knew that she wouldn't be able to settle it. I grip onto his forearm, ''What did you say that to her?'' I ask, politely.

''She's making me mad.'' He replies, shortly.

''Yeah, she's your aunt.'' I stand in front of him, ''Think about it Alex, you have to at least let them get to know you or you, yourself, get to know them. It's been years, hasn't it? I may not know anything about your family but didn't you see the look on her face? She doesn't want anything to fall again in this family. She wants everyone to unite. She wants this family to feel and be complete.''

''You're saying as if you've been living under this roof.''

''I'm just saying what's in my mind. Hopefully you won't be mad at me for stating my honest opinion.'' I say, low. He won't be able to keep on running away from his family for any longer. He needs to let them in. They wanted to try but they're scared of his reaction, of his respond. I might be too if I didn't know him.

''I would never be mad at you.'' He mutters under his breath.

''Great to know that.'' I clear my throat.

I hear Jon laughing from the kitchen as he talks to someone. Then he appears right near the wall, with his mouth full of food. He continues to chew and I just stare at his cheeks; he looks like a chipmunk. He swallows, ''Hey, guys. Come on before I finish all of the food.'' He starts running toward the kitchen once more.

Liam walks down from upstairs and he seems surprised to see us here, ''Everything alright?'' He asks. Alex nod and Liam stands right near us, ''Um, can I talk to Athena for awhile?'' He looks directly at Alex, asking for his permission as if I'm some sort of property.

''You don't need to ask for his permission.'' I cut Alex before he could say anything.

''Yes he does. He needs to.'' Alex says out of nowhere, ''Why do you want to talk to her? What is it about?''

''Nothing serious.'' Liam replies, short. Alex looks at him in the eyes before walking toward the kitchen—leaving me and Liam alone in the living room. I play with my fingers as I wait for him to start the conversation.

''Sure.'' We both walk outside and Liam closes the door behind us. I breathe in the fresh air as I stand in the middle and he walks toward me; keeping our distance. He looks around before looking back at me once more.

''I've thought about it though.'' He starts, ''I can't stop thinking about you—'' I furrow my eyebrows and he shakes his head, ''—no no, please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not going to ruin your marriage with Alex because I love him and he's my friend. I may have feelings for you but I'm trying to make myself dislike you somehow but I can't.''

''I've done nothing.'' I reply.

''Yeah, well you caught my attention. Remember the first time we met? When we were in the kitchen and you freaked out.'' We both end up chuckling at the memory, ''Yeah, actually I was surprised to even see someone as beautiful you are. No one has ever made me felt that way. It was strange.''

''Get out!'' I say, this time louder before pushing his shoulder. He manage to pull me with him when I push him harder. I scream in surprise as I trip on his feet, making me fall with him on the floor. I fall on top of him and both of my palms are on his hard chest. My mouth opens widely, letting out a few breaths.

The spoon falls to the ground and I see it quite far from me. I feel Liam's hand on my waist or more like on my butt. I groan—trying to free myself and just in time when I was about to stand up, another figure appears at the door.

''What the—'' A familiar voice spoke.

''I'm only going to say this once but you were pretty attractive that time...'' I say and I see him looking at me in surprise before smiling and chuckling. I look right at his dimple and I still remember the first time I saw it.

He nods his head, ''Thank you, I appreciate that.'' And he pulls out his hand, asking me to reply his handshake. I look down at his hand before returning the handshake, ''So, friends? Close friends? Best friends? Friends with benefits?'' He chuckles at the end, making me grin at him, ''You know, if Alex ever hurt your or anything, just come to me and I'll be your superman.''

''I'm grateful.'' I say, ''Close friends, okay?''

He nods once more before letting my hand go. We both stand; just looking at each other. He slowly walk toward the front door but he stops and he starts to turn around to look at me, ''About the kiss back in England, I didn't regret that you know. Just saying.''

My eyes widen at the figure behind him and Liam turns around—following my gaze.

''What kiss?'' Alex asks, eyeing Liam and I in a way that no one wants to be glared at.