-Aphrodite's pov.
I was sitting in the throne room listening to Zeus and Poseidon bickering about anything and everything they could think of. All the other Olympians were sitting on their own thrones. Half of them were doing their own things and the other half were listening to the two brothers amusedly. Listening to the arguing was too boring and I didn't have anyone to talk to at the moment. Ares, the god of war and my lover, was at war and I really didn't feel like being judged by the other goddesses, so I didn't even really consider talking to them.
My eyes scanned the room looking for anything even mildly interesting. They stopped to look at a god directly opposite me. Hephaestus. My husband. The cripple god of blacksmiths and fire. He was tinkering with something and wasn't paying attention to anything happening around him and no one was paying attention to him except for myself of course. They all thought he was the ugliest and therefore the worst god.
I studied his face with mild interest. The other side was full of different sized scars. Other than that, I didn't see anything wrong with his face. He was one of the most muscular gods in the room. His bad leg was a little bent, but nothing too extreme. His hair was dark brown and eyes the most beautiful hazel colour I had ever seen. Wait, what? beautiful? I never thought I, the goddess of love and beauty, would even consider him being beautiful in any way, shape or form. But here I was, studying his handsome features.
I started thinking about our past. I was forced to marry him. Back then, I could barely stand him. After our wedding ceremony and the only kiss we ever shared, I left to find Ares. He comforted me in various different ways. Of course, Hephaestus found out and I could see that he was deeply hurt by my actions. What did he expect? Our marriage was forced and I never loved him. I continued cheating on him and after a while, he stopped caring. Or so I thought.
Hephaestus' pov.
I was sitting on my throne and I was tinkering with my latest invention. Who thought smartphones could be made god approved? Well, obviously I did. I tried to turn it on, and it did. I smiled triumphantly.
The only thing that made me happy was creating something. All the other gods were repulsed by me. My marriage was a failure. Zeus had ordered me to marry the most beautiful goddess in the world, Aphrodite. She was clearly not happy about it and the moment she was alone, she went and sought Ares for comfort. I was hurt by her actions. She could have given me a chance but no. She would rather cheat on me. At first, I tried to make her like me with gifts but she would just take the gift and leave me alone. She never even thanked me. I stopped giving her gifts but every time she cheated on me, it still hurt. We lived in the same house, but we never slept together. I often slept at my forge while she entertained her guests. When I did sleep at home, which was rarely, I slept in my office which I had turned into my bedroom. I let her sleep in the master bedroom. And yes, even gods had to sleep.
After my successful attempt to adjust the smartphone, I looked up and saw two gorgeous blue eyes look into my boring old brown ones. After a second of intense staring, I realised who it was and blushed a little. It was Aphrodite. She had looked at me like she was appreciating what she saw.
Aphrodite's pov.
Hephaestus looked up and our eyes locked. Neither of us looked away. After a while, I realised what I was doing and blushed. I saw his face redden and before I could do anything, he looked down again. The rest of the pointless meeting flew by. Hephaestus didn't look up again and I understood why. I was so deep in thought that I missed the end of the meeting. When I saw the other gods and goddesses leave, I stood up. Hephaestus had already limped out of the room. I shook my head to clear it and left.
When I arrived at my, correction, our house, I stopped. I wondered if my husband was at home. No, he was probably at his forge creating something new again. I stepped inside and went to my bedroom to change my outfit. I walked inside but before I managed to do anything, I was pushed against the wall. I felt rough lips on my own soft ones. For a moment I hoped the mystery kisser was my husband, but I soon realised it was Ares. I tried to push him away but I was not lucky. He started kissing my neck and I took a deep breath in.
"Ares, please stop", I panted.
"No", he simply said against my skin and tried to take my dress off.
"I'm serious Ares, I'm not in the mood", I said and tried to push him away again.
"What are you talking about? You're always in the mood", he said and started leaving wet kisses down my neck and shoulder area.
"I said stop!" I yelled and finally managed to push his heavy body away from me.
"Why you ungrateful little bitch! I came here just for you! And you say no! No one says no to me!" he yelled and picked me up. He carried me to my bed and tossed be on to it. he ripped the dress off my body. I tried to stop him but I couldn't do anything. He was too strong.
"Please stop!" I yelled with tears in my eyes.
Then something shocking happened. My eyes were closed so I didn't see anything. I heard a loud bang and a crash. I opened my eyes and saw two large men wrestling on the ground.
"Get out of my house if you don't want to get hurt! Now!" Yelled the other man after getting up. It was Hephaestus. I was so shocked that I couldn't move a muscle. Ares was fuming at this point.
"Your house?! You haven't stepped foot in this place in months!" he yelled and got up.
"I said, get out of here before I hurt you", Hephaestus said with a low but intimidating voice.
"Fine! But you have not seen the rest of me! I will get my revenge!" Ares yelled and stomped out of my room.
Tears were running down my face as I curled up into a small ball.
Hephaestus's pov.
I was standing in the middle of Aphrodite's bedroom and I was fuming. I hadn't been at home in a while and I really needed some new clothes so after the meeting ended, I came here. It was dead silent. I walked to my office/bedroom and began collecting some clean clothes. After a while, I heard a loud yell from the other side of the house. I ignored it. Aphrodite was probably having another one of her lovers over and I really didn't want to know who it was this time. Then I heard more yelling and decided to investigate.
I was outside her closed door when I heard her yell once more. She was crying. Adrenaline rushed through my body and I decided to do the only logical option. I burst in and saw Aphrodite laying on her bed naked and trying to push the man on top of her away. It was my idiot brother, Ares. I ran to her bed and tackled my brother to the ground. We wrestled for a while and I got the upper hand. I got up and glared at the clearly shocked Ares. I ordered him to leave and he did but not before he had threatened me first.
I turned around and saw the naked Aphrodite in a small ball. She was still crying and slightly shivering. I started to leave but then I heard a small broken voice that crushed my heart.
"Please, don't leave", Aphrodite said.
I nodded and awkwardly stood there for a while. I decided that standing there wasn't going to help the crying mess that just layed there shivering. I walked to the bed and took a blanket from the floor. I carefully tucked her in and saw her sigh contently. After that, I didn't know what to do. Aphrodite opened her eyes and looked into mine.
"Thank you", she whispered.
"Uhh, no problem", I said awkwardly.
"No, I mean it. I tried to stop him but I was too weak", she said and a single tear spilled from her eyes.
Despite our rocky relationship, I didn't want to leave her alone after that. I sat at the end of the bed and locked my eyes with hers.
"You are not weak. Ares is just crazy strong and when he gets mad, he gets even stronger. But you are not weak", I said and smiled a little.
She smiled back, which I was not expecting. Then she said something I never thought she would say to me.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've done and I'm sorry I've been a bitch to you." More tears spilled from her eyes and she looked away from me.
"I don't blame you. I really don't. Yes, it hurt like hell. But Zeus made us get married. You didn't want to marry me. You didn't love me. And that's okay", I said sincerely.
"No, it's not okay! I'm the goddess of love! I had no right to cheat on you! I never thanked you for all the beautiful gifts you gave me! I've been the worst wife for you! I don't deserve you. You are too kind, compassionate, thoughtful and unselfish for someone like me. You deserve someone who can give you all the love that you deserve", she finished.
"Aphrodite", I said firmly. She sat up and our eyes locked again.
"You are the most wonderful person I've ever met. You say you don't deserve me when the truth is that I don't deserve you. You deserve someone who you actually love. You are not happy in this marriage and I understand why. I mean, who would want a cripple and an ugly god as a husband? You are the goddess of love and beauty. You deserve some who you love and is just as beautiful as you are", I said and tried to conceal the sadness that came after saying the words I had wanted to say for years.
We stared at each other for a long time. She came closer to me and took my hands in hers.
"You are not ugly. Just because you have a few scars on your face doesn't make you any uglier. When we got married, I thought I loved Ares. Now I realize that I never loved him. He is the ugly one. Real beauty comes from the inside. I may be the goddess of love but I feel like I don't even know what love is anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that you deserve all the love in the world", she said and came a little closer again.
I smiled at her words and really tried to believe them. I wiped the rest of the tears from her cheeks. Her skin was soft and blemish-free. We stared into each other's eyes and crept closer and closer until our lips were just a few inches apart. Her other hand crept up my arm while the other one tried to keep the blanket up. One of my hands went to the back of her neck and the other hand brushed her hair from her face.