Metamorphosis

Chapter 16: "Dear Love, why are you such a hater?"

Love broke him; that must have been the saddest thing to hear. He is the God of love, after all, and to have the thing that you emulate be the thing that breaks you has to feel like you've been punched in the gut.

"Psyche was my first love; we met on one of the coldest nights, but she stood outside on her balcony, and she was smiling, happy to have one more breath. Back then, I was still learning how to perfect using my bow. When I feel the need to use my arrows, my hand's tingle, and that's what they did on that night. It must have been the nudge of the wind, or maybe I lost my balance, but when I shot the arrow to pierce her heart, I missed, and the arrow ended up in her shoulder. I panicked and flew down to help her..."

As I listened to how Eros and Psyche meet, I noticed how Eros spoke about his past love. It was not cruel or mean; it was like he was reminiscing on the love he had for her. All the men I knew referred to their exes as "Crazy," and those men were ones to stay away from. Eros went on to say that Psyche, and he fell for one another. They had little secret spots they would go to spend time together. It sounded so sweet, like teenage love. So hooked and writing your names on paper with hearts. 

"She was supposed to belong to another, but, I tell her, and she was in love with me, so I never pierced her heart. My mother wasn't thrilled about Psyche, but eventually, Psyche grew on her. We were to be married," Eros's voice seemed to trail off as he dived into his memories, "On the night before our wedding, I had to deal with some pesky people that were violating my mother's temple after I came back Psyche was gone."

"Did she leave you a note?"

Eros shook his head, "I looked everywhere, even places she never would go. My mother even looked for her, but we never found her. A little after that, my mother came to me with this necklace; I guess she felt sorry for me..." his voice trailed off once again, and I could hear his voice crack.

I could see a glistening tear roll down his cheek, and he quickly wiped it away. I stood up and walked towards him; my heart was aching for him. I might have never had that kind of connection, but I could feel his loss and his grief. He had hidden it so well; he needed what I needed when I felt like this, a friend.

I pulled him into me, hugging him tightly, "The scars that no one sees are the worse ones; I'm so sorry, Eros."

 At first, his arms reached around me gently, then tighter; I let him hold me. I just did what I would want someone to do for me if I was hurting. My mother was never good at the touchy-feely stuff. She never sat with me and talked it out or gave me hugs like this. I figured if I needed something like that in that particular moment, then maybe someone else did too. Eros took a long sigh and broke our embrace.

 "So your playful, sarcastic nature, is that a cover-up too?"

Eros chuckles, " No, just part of the personality."

"Hm, I like it; be careful not to scare Annie. She might not know your joking," I said.

I could see Eros smile, "Fair enough." I realized Annie was still with my mother; Eros must have realized this because his eyes grew wide when he looked back at me.

"Oh, s**t!" I said before bolting out the door; I quickly got to the top of the stairs. I listened to see if my mother was still with Annie.

"Well, I have half a mind to call your mother, young lady." I peeked through the railing down to the kitchen. I could see Annie's arms crossed. "First of all, I'm 22, a grown-ass adult. Second, I'm only here to get Doves things because she can't stand your face!" Annie shouted. I could tell by her raised voice that she was not happy.

"You watch your mouth when you talk to your elders!"

"My mouth?! This is coming from a want-to-be mother who tells Dove that her "mother's" own life is better without her?!"

"Don't you dare judge me, you little brat! Get out!"

I immediately make a run for the front door, Eros follows, and a moment later, Annie comes stomping out. She marches up to us, "I don't know-how in the Holy hell you lived with that woman as long as you did, I would have got batshit crazy."

"Oh, trust me, I had my moments, "I say as Annie starts walking away from the house.

"So, did you find anything?" She asks.

I slip my hand into my pocket and pull out the gold rock, "Yeah, but I'm not sure it's useful. It was in there with the note my birth mother lift me."

Annie stared at the rock then back at me, "Are you kidding me? A rock?" She sighs. "Okay, you know what? I need to get back home. I want to feel normal for a while, and I am not flying again, so can we just take the bus or something?" she asks.

"Yes, I'll go with you," I look back at Eros, who gives me a small smile.

"I'll follow you," he says before lunging up into the sky.

I rode the bus home with Annie; I noticed she was quieter than usual, she gazed out the window. 

The bus stopped near her place, and we got off; as we walked up the porch, the door flung open, and Annie's mom snatched her by her shirt and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Annie! My baby! Where were you?! I tried calling you a dozen times! I was about to call the police!"

"Mom, I-I'm fine, you're hurting me..."

"Why didn't you answer your phone!?"

Annie glanced at me then laughed nervously, "Uh, bad reception?"

Annie's mom glanced at me, then opened her arms again, "Oh Dove! Come here; you both must be starving."

She brought us both in. Annie's home always smelled like baked cookies, and her mom was an avid baker. She could bake a bakery out of business.

"Annie," I whispered as her mom went into the kitchen. 

"I need to figure out what this rock means. Are you going to stay here?"

Annie pressed her lips together, "Yeah, Dove, you know I'm all for mystery and adventure but, I think I'm drained. I want to be home for now." she says before giving me a tight hug. "You have my number okay, don't hesitate to call me if you need me."

"I won't, " I said, feeling the tightness in my chest. I quickly walked out before I was asked too many questions. 

"She isn't coming?" 

I gasped at hearing Eros's voice as he appeared next to me. "No, she's going to stay home for a little while."

"It's understandable; not everyone would cope the way she is about all of this. She got thrown into it."

"Yeah, " I sighed, "That's on me, though...I dragged her into this." I definitely felt bad about that; I mean, she almost got killed because of me. I bite my lip.

"Don't do that."

"Huh?"

"That look on your face, you're blaming yourself for what happened to her."

I double blinked. Could he read my mind, or was he figuring out my tells? 

"You're biting your lip."

"So?"

Eros rolls his eyes with a half-smile, "You seem to do that when you're nervous,"

"Ah-And how would you know?"

"Really? You couldn't see me for a while, but I could see you, love; I just picked up on a couple of things about you."

I found myself smiling and tucking my hair behind my ear, "Awe, I forgot you were a creep," I teased.

Eros rolled his eyes again, "Why did I think you would say something cute?" he said as he shook his head.

"Cause you wanted me too, " I said as I stuck out my tongue at him. "Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm starving," I said, acknowledging my grumbling stomach. "Do you eat?"

Eros snorts laughter, "What?"

"Well, I wasn't sure If God or Goddess got hungry, all I've seen you consume is nectar."

Eros softly chuckles, "Your curiosity is cute."

"Don't test me. I will gladly stuff a burger down my throat without you."

Eros chuckles with his charming smile, "Yes, I occasionally do."

"Uh, what about your wings?"

"Easy fix," He says as he rolls his shoulders," Now I won't run into anything,"

"Wha-Hold on, if you could do that, then why didn't you when we got to the kitchen?"

A tint of blush made Eros look like a shy schoolboy as he rubbed his neck, "I got distracted..."

"What distracted you?" I asked as we walked together. It took a few minutes for me to realize he had stopped walking with me. I turn around and see him with his hands in his pockets, smirking at me with a dashing grin.

Lord, no wonder Psyche fell for him so fast...

 It was then I realized what he had been distracted by, Me. My face flushed and felt like a roaring fire, "Really? Did you get distracted by me?" I asked, hardly believing it; I mean, I wasn't bad looking, but I wasn't in the area of drop-dead gorgeous, or maybe that was my insecurities talking. My arms crossed, feeling the need to cover myself.

Yup, it's the insecurities talking. Thanks, mom and stupid boys from high school.

Eros c****d his head, "You don't see it do you?"

"Hm? See what?" I acted stupid, but I knew what he was talking about; Annie always did the same thing. She calls it my Mirror Blindness.

Eros walks back to me; I don't know why, but I feel naked or vulnerable when this man looks at me. It was like he was metaphorically poking at something inside me I had pushed down long ago. 

Eros gently put his arm around me, "Come on, let's get you something to eat."