Kate,

We sped after the goddess of beauty, Aiden and Swift following close behind us. As I held onto Noah as Sam recklessly drove at the top speed that his Jeep could go, I was suddenly reminded of when I was fourteen, sitting in the backseat with Noah as my dad tried to teach Sam how to drive. My dad was acting as if it was all business as usual, Sam was driving like a maniac, and I was holding onto Noah for dear life.

That was before I realized how much I liked him, and I had just been holding onto him because of how completely scared we were of Sam's driving.

I was reminded of how much had changed in five years by that. I loved Noah. I was blushing, and I was hiding my face in Noah's shirt to keep from seeing Charlie's looks directed at me instead of seeing Sam's horrible driving. And there was a new victim who had to feel the rocky driving of Sam, Chester.

Nothing was the same as it had been years ago, and it never would be. Part of me wanted to go back. Things were so much easier back then. I didn't know I was in love with Noah. Things weren't awkward between the two of us. We were just friends. No, we were best friends. I was closer to him than I was my own brother. I saw him as a second brother, and Charlie was just our little baby.

Now, Charlie was all grown up and prepared to take on a mission that was supposed to bring on her death. I was now not very close to my brother or Noah, and I never saw them. Noah and I were friends, but we didn't share everything as we once had. There were now boundaries. And there were boundaries because I realized I loved him.

I was remembering our younger days when things were so much simpler when the Jeep finally came to a halt. Had we not been in seatbelts, we easily would have been thrown. My nails dug into Noah's shirt as the sudden stop scared me, and I realized that I had to let go of him. But I didn't want to.

I glanced up at Noah. At perfect, handsome Noah.

"I think Sam was trying to kill us again," he whispered softly, and I laughed as I forced myself to pull away. Sam was jumping out of the driver's seat, and Chester was working his way out while Charlie was hesitant like me.

I opened the car door, and I took a step onto the driveway.

I was almost attacked by perfection. The green grass was perfectly green and lush. The flowers were all perfect and at full bloom. Cherry trees let their pink blossoms fall in only the perfect way. Trees had lush leaves, the perfectly strong truck, and there were the pristine little nests set up for the birds that filled the air with a beautiful song.

Everything around me was perfect. The beautiful, pink-tinted mansion. The amazing grounds. The temperature. The amount of humidity. The smells. Even the sounds around you. It was all perfect.

It was like what every girly girl wanted as a child. An amazing, pink mansion by the water. Unlimited money. The perfect house with the perfect grounds. A lover waiting inside. And to be the most beautiful woman in the entire world.

Honestly, all of it still sounded pretty perfect to me.

And then even perfection was added to the perfect little secluded mansion in California. Aphrodite stepped out of her powder blue convertible, her hair flowing in the wind and her sexy smile coming out to play as she stood. As she walked to us, her outfit slowly started reforming back into the flowing pink gown and four inch heels that she had been wearing when we got here.

"Oh, Kate!" Aphrodite suddenly lashed out and pulled me close into a hug.

"Aphrodite, it is wonderful to see you again," I managed, forcing myself to hug her back.

She pulled away, still smiling.

"We must talk later," she squeezed my hand like we had been best friends my entire life. She then turned to Charlie.

Charlie looked afraid. It had not been her first time standing in front of the perfect goddess, but it was the first time that she had felt the cruel grip of Aphrodite's "sweet" little love that she adored so much. Charlie had seen the parts that they always leave out in the princess movies before the princess gets her prince.

Now, Charlie knew what we all had been talking about and what all of those Romantic Comedies had been wailing about.

"Charlotte," Aphrodite hugged Charlie close, "I am so excited to see you!"

Charlie gave her a half-hearted hug, and Aphrodite's smile turned sexy as she hugged Sam. She whispered something I couldn't hear in his ear, and then she said hello to Chester, though her warm and friendly attitude was not shown to him. And then came the moment I really didn't want to see.

"Noah!" she opened her arms wide, and her smile was the biggest. Her eyes were the friendliest. And her beauty seemed to triple, "You look so wonderful!"

Even the goddess of beauty was attracted to Noah. Everyone was. He was handsome, sweet, friendly, funny, caring, and an amazing brother. There was nothing not to love…

"Hello, Aphrodite," Noah was still warm and cordial, but I could tell that something was up. And she saw it, too.

She seemed to smile about whatever it was though, so I assumed that I wouldn't like it whatever it was.

Swift was jumping out of her car with Aiden following right after her. I could suddenly both see the Roman blood in both of them. She didn't look mesmerized by the perfect and pristine surroundings. I think she was more mad at Sam speeding like a maniac when he was supposed to be showing her the way to follow.

"Swift," Aphrodite smiled, and Swift made her look at Aphrodite very clear that she was not going to hug. So Aphrodite looked to Aiden, and her smile was big and beautiful as she looked to him.

"My Lady," Aiden looked like he was about to bow when Aphrodite stopped him.

"Oh, Love, we don't bow here! We hug!" she hugged him tightly, and Aiden seemed shocked by the sudden hug before he finally did begin to hug her back, "You are so handsome! My, have you grown! You know," she looked back to all of us, "He is the grandson of Venus. He is almost like my grandson! And you are a wonderful grandson to have!"

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he was blushing a bit as she looked around to everyone.

"How would you all like some tea?" she was scanning our faces when she noticed the painting in the back of the Jeep.

Her jaw dropped, and her eyes widened.

"Is that my gorgeous painting?" she looked to us all, and her eyes stopped on Sam, "Samuel, please, open the car so that I can see it."

Sam unlocked the car and went to the back to let her see her portrait.

She smiled wide and clapped happily before snapping. Suddenly, a team of pristine servants in pink attire rushed out of the building and hurriedly came to the car. They lifted the portrait together, taking as much care of it as if it was the goddess herself. As they began back to the mansion, she motioned for us to follow.

She went in front of the servants, and she rushed through the mansion with everyone else struggling to keep up with her. There were so many things to see as we passed through. Everything was perfect. Everything was beautiful. Nothing had a flaw anywhere to be seen. There seemed to be a million doors, a million windows showing perfect views, a million beautiful pieces of art, and a million architectural marvels.

It was starting to give me a headache, and I ran into Charlie as we all suddenly stopped as Aphrodite halted and smiled like a little kid at Christmas as she opened up French doors to a pastel pink room that was simple with simple furnishings. There was no art on the walls. Just some fine china and beautiful vases.

She walked to a wall facing the door, and she tapped on it.

"This is it. This is where it should go…" she smiled, and she moved back for her servants to hurriedly begin their work of putting it up on the wall. They did it fast, but they seemed to understand the drama of the situation. So they slowly backed away, building anticipation.

As they stepped away, the painting was so beautiful. It was of the form she had been in when Aphrodite met Azul and gave birth to their immortal daughter, Weslin. She looked like Weslin. I had thought that Weslin looked like Azul, but I was wrong. She was mini-Aphrodite.

I wondered if that killed Azul. He still loved his ex, but she was gone and with some new lover. And he was at home with their child who she never saw and who was the spitting image of her mother.

"It is so beautiful. I always wanted it here," Aphrodite put her hand on her heart as if she was seeing a child return home. I wondered if she would show the same reaction if we had showed up with Weslin instead of the painting.

Aphrodite turned to us, and I noticed that she was still morphing. I never liked that about seeing Aphrodite. Her eyes were going from blue to green. Her hair was going from black to blonde. Her lips were changing, her face was changing. It never stayed the same for long.

"I have so much to thank you all for!" she was glowing as she suddenly lunged out and hugged Sam and Noah tightly, "You all are welcome any time!"

She pulled away from the two of them, looking to her servants.

"My, it is almost time for dinner! Show them to their rooms so that they can get ready. And…." Aphrodite thought about it, and she suddenly clapped happily, "Make-overs! You must get make-overs! This is going to be so much fun!"

Noah,

"What are you doing!" I demanded, and I let out a loud hiss as they pulled off the wax paper from my leg, pulling about a year worth of hair with it. Just about my entire body had been waxed. My chest was red from it, my arms were hairless, and my armpits were sore from the pain of the waxing.

When the Aphrodite's servants first showed up, I knew I couldn't get out of the make-over, though I wanted to. So, I sat down like a good boy, and I let them wash my hair, cut it, and apply hair products without complaining. And then they got out the wax.

I never thought that two pretty boy servants in pink outfits would be able to take me, and I would never admit that it happened again. But it did, and I was being held down by a guy with lipstick and hair gel. I winced at the thought, and I was silently swearing to myself to never speak of it again.

They let me go, and I was thrown a bottle of lotion to relax the burning from the waxing. I kept feeling somewhat naked now that I was mostly hairless, and I let them dress me. When they approached me with the make-up though, I could not be as good, and I let out a growl that made them back off.

"Dinner is downstairs," one of the servants told me before they both hurried out, and I looked at myself in the mirror.

I had to admit that I looked pretty good, though that was no excuse for the pain and suffering I went through to become less hairy so I didn't look like a "caveman" anymore.

I straightened my suit jacket, and I started down the stairs, trying not to look at myself in the mirror to be reminded of the burning of my body. But there were so many mirrors.

Aphrodite wanted to see her flawless perfection. She wanted to see her spotless and perfectly designed home. Aphrodite wanted to see the wonderful lover that she was wrapped up in at the time, and she wanted to see her power around her. The power that had kept her able to go on the way she did without any consequences.

I mean, here we were. She skipped out on her daughter's birthday as much as her life. Her ex decided he was going to show her a lesson and make her leave her new boy toy to come and see her daughter like she should have in the first place. He had a firm stance, and she would have to choose between that perfect painting and the perfect new boyfriend.

And the goddess got her way.

Like she always did.

As I looked past pictures of Aphrodite with a few of her then-boyfriends, I realized that they must have worked their way down the line of importance from the time of the initial relationship. I wondered how many of them she had left crushed. I wondered how many she left with children that she would also ignore.

I was growing to hate the goddess of love as I walked through her mansion.

The pristine beauty felt too forced. The gorgeous views felt too sheltered. The inhabitants too shallow. And the reason for this secret vacation home too deceitful.

It was growing intensely as I stepped into the dining room and saw the newest boyfriend of Aphrodite sitting with her toasting a glass of Champaign as she waited to greet her guests and be a good hostess. But she was too busy with him to even notice I walked in.

"You're staring, Noah," I felt the familiar hot breath on my neck, and I found myself smiling.

"She's the goddess of beauty. I'm supposed to stare, right, Kate?" I smirked, taking in the scent of her cinnamon toothpaste and the warmth of being close to her, and I looked back to Kate.

My jaw almost dropped as I took a look at her.

Kate was always beautiful. She had been since the day she was born. As she got older, she got prettier and prettier. Every time I saw Kate, she seemed to have become even more beautiful. Kate was my Aphrodite, changing all the time to become more gorgeous.

And, right now, she was prettier than I was pretty sure I'd ever seen her.

Kate had her hair down in the curls that girls tried to master all over the world, dreaming about that perfect sweet and sexy look that they dreamed about. They had brought more attention to her stormy grey eyes, and her thick lips were colored ruby red. Her dress showed off her perfect body, and her smile was so beautiful…

I couldn't stop staring, and I was worried that my mouth was open as I gawked at Kate. I was embarrassed by doing it, but I simply couldn't stop.

Kate's face fell, and she looked down to her dress and body as if questioning every bit of it. Then she looked up to me, her eyes a little worried.

"W-What? What is it? Is there lipstick in my teeth?" she opened her mouth a bit where I could see her teeth.

I blushed a bit, looking down, and I shook my head.

"No, no, there's nothing wrong. Nothing at all…" I looked back to her, my eyes once more getting lost in the stormy grey that I loved to very much, "You look great."

Kate's smile widened, and her eyes seemed to light up a bit before she blushed.

"She made me wear a dress," someone mumbled angrily, and I had to pry my eyes off of Kate to see who the voice belonged to.

It was Swift.

Or, at least, I thought it was.

It was so shocking to see her like this that I questioned whether it even was Swift.

Her long, black curls were tied up into an up-do, and she was actually wearing make-up. She was wearing sparkly eye shadow, black eyeliner, and even blush. You could see two of her tattoos, but the strength of them seemed gentler. The wings on her neck seemed to almost be sweet, and the Roman tattoo didn't seem to jump right at you. She was wearing a simple but elegant black gown. She was still intense and strong, but she seemed… just gentler. And definitely girlier.

"What?" Swift looked to both of us, her arms crossed, and the intimidating glare re-entered her eyes.

And she's back…

"Nothing," I shrugged, and she continued to hold her arms crossed, not trusting what I said.

Sam joined us not long afterwards, and his eyes widened. He stopped, gawking at Swift like we used to stare at the hot librarian we had a crush on in middle school. As his jaw dropped, Kate held her hand to her mouth not to snicker, and I nudged her.

Swift spun around, looking at him.

"What are you staring at?" her irritability was at an all-time high due to wearing a dress and make-up, and Sam was the one who was about to pay the price for Aphrodite's choice to give us all make-overs.

Sam quickly tried to recover, but his suave confidence was fading. His tricks were failing. And it seemed to be the end of an era of Sam's success to get anything and anyone he wanted whenever he wanted them. Sam had met his match. He had found the girl that our family had prayed for, the one who he had to work for but still wanted.

San was struggling for words, and I was looking forward to hearing what would come out. But I didn't get to hear it as Chester saved Sam by walking through the door.

Not much had changed with Chester. His hair was still styled, and he wasn't wearing any make-up that I could tell. The only thing that seemed different was the fact that he was wearing a suit instead of his typical band shirt, and I wasn't even sure that he wasn't wearing his Greenday tee shirt underneath.

"What'd I miss?" Chester didn't seem to care about Sam and Swift. He just walked right past them and walked towards us.

"Nothing," Kate shrugged for me, and I continued to keep my eye on Sam and Swift until Aiden came in.

Nothing was different about Aiden. He was still soft but intense. Intimidating but kind. And attractive but not in a pretty boy kind of way. He was just cleaned up. His hair had been trimmed, and he was wearing a suit. But Aiden was Aiden. He didn't need the make-up or shaping up.

Chester and Aiden seemed to glare at each other for a bit as Aiden went over to stand by Swift.

"Is somebody wearing make-up?" Aiden smirked, teasing his older sister, and she turned to him. Swift gave Aiden the same intimidating glare, but it didn't seem to bother him like it bothered us. I guess he was just used to it.

Swift leaned closer to her brother, sniffing him. She looked up with a wide smile, prepared to tease.

"Is someone wearing cologne?" Swift raised her eyebrows, and Aiden blushed a bright red.

Aiden opened his mouth, and I could tell there would be more teasing. But it was cut short by Aphrodite's happy voice.

"Oh my! Charlie, you look so grown up!"

Hearing my little sister being called grown up made my head whip around to see her.

And that she was.

Charlie looked grown up. Her blonde curls were tied up in an up-do behind her head, showing emerald earrings that somewhat matched the green of her eyes that she inherited from our father. She was wearing a grey and sparkly gown, and she was even wearing make-up.

And, even worse, I was watching as Aiden checked my sister out.

Kate gripped onto my arm, silently telling me to calm down.

"Let's sit!" Aphrodite announced happily.

Charlie,

Dinner was awkward in the Californian mansion of Aphrodite.

For one thing, it was like sitting in the twilight zone served with Crème Brûlée. Swift was wearing a dress and make-up. Kate and Noah weren't awkwardly ignoring each other, they were completely open with one another. Sam wasn't completely suave, having the girl of his desires begging for him. Our hostess wasn't hitting on Aiden. And I was wearing a gown…

Then Aphrodite tried to have the most uncomfortable seating arrangements she could manage. I was between Aiden and Chester. Sam and Swift were sitting near each other with Sam gawking at Swift. Noah was stuck near Aphrodite and her new boy toy, being sickeningly sweet and affectionate. And Kate was stuck in the situation of trying to calm her down without bringing everyone's attention.

Then there was that look in Aphrodite's ever-morphing eyes. It was all knowing, almost smirking that her spell had captured me after all. She was so proud of her victory of my heart messing up my brain. And she knew who I had seen in my dream.

I could see it. Every time she glanced at me, she was reminding me.

I began to become thankful for whenever she looked back to her boyfriend and started being cute again, which I never thought I would say.

And then there was the worst part of dinner.

"You all went to visit Hypnos, didn't you? I heard you all had some very… telling dreams," Aphrodite smiled, and the entire table blushed, and she looked to all of us.

Her eyes stayed glued on me for a moment longer than everyone else as her smile widened, "I would love to talk about it some time," she told us.

I immediately knew I was not going to the talking and drinks after dinner.

When Aphrodite was strolling towards the parlor and announcing that there would be Champaign for the elder people and that an arrangement could be made for the three younger people, I quickly jumped at the third option for us to go on to bed. I faked being tired, and I went up towards my room. I went fast, trying to go before Aphrodite could have someone stop me so we would have to talk about me the state of my love-life.

As soon as I got back to my room, I had servants waiting on me to help me take off the outfit properly. And they made the painful time to get ready for dinner seem delicate. As soon as most of their work on me was erased, they were gone, and I was still standing in front of the large, pink mirror.

I wasn't really sure what to do with myself. I didn't want to go back down to Aphrodite. I couldn't sleep. And I didn't see many other options to occupy my time.

So, I pulled on a pair of shoes, and I began to ramble aimlessly through the beautiful mansion. There was perfection everywhere you looked. Everything was spotless and shiny. It all fit together perfectly. And it even smelled just right with the gentle scent of strawberries in the air.

There was nothing to critique. Nothing to complain about. Nothing to question.

Everything was perfect.

And, by being so perfect, it felt so wrong.

I finally couldn't take the perfection. I wanted flaws. I wanted problems. I wanted something I could say was wrong. I wanted to go back to the real world.

I found two sweeping, pink doors, and I opened them, letting in the breeze.

Even the night breeze was perfect….

I walked out onto the rooftop garden, taking in the wild scent of so many different plants. Yes, they meshed together perfectly, but they were still stronger than I'm sure Aphrodite had wanted. And I liked it that way.

I took a deep breath of the air, closing my eyes to take in the sound of the breeze.

And then a new sound filled the air.

It was so perfect…

The gentle strum of a guitar overpowered the sound of the ocean far off, and it was so much better. I couldn't help it. The music seemed to fill me, and it wasn't the first time…

I knew that sound. I remembered it.

I could suddenly remember the night where he tried to teach it to me. I remembered the wrong strums, the wrong finger placement, and the laughs we shared that had produced something very different from the song we were aiming for.

It hadn't been long ago, but it felt like an eternity…

I took a step around the corner, and there he was.

Aiden Cinna.

He looked just like the hot guy I had seen that night through the crack of his door, holding an acoustic guitar and wearing a crisp suit. His hair was the same, his eyes were the same, and his tattoos were the same. But Aiden was much more than that now.

The tattoo on his neck had meaning, it made him fly and even saved my life once. Beyond the appearance of simple friendliness was the look that only a roman soldier could have. He had a sister. He was protective. He was a nice guy. He was funny when he wanted to be and serious when he didn't.

And he was my friend…

"Hey," I said softly, and his eyes shot up from the guitar, his fingers freezing.

His smile spread, "Hey, Charlie."

I sat down on the ground beside him, smiling.

"So, what are you doing up here?"

Aiden shrugged, looking at the guitar.

"Needed air. Found a guitar," Aiden shrugged, "You?"

"Wanted to hide from Aphrodite honestly," I admitted, "I'm afraid she'll bring up the…" I stopped as I realized I was about to bring up the dream.

But Aiden already knew what I was about to say.

He didn't seem very happy about it as he looked back to the stars, and I looked down, silently cursing at myself for ruining what was a perfectly fine moment.

"You didn't like yours?" I finally asked, looking up at Aiden, and he looked down at me, thinking it over.

"It was just a dream…" he finally answered with a small shrug, looking back to the stars.

I looked back to the guitar, longing for when things were easier and he was just trying to teach me how to play the guitar.

"I remember you tried to teach me," I pointed at the guitar, trying to change the subject, "I was horrible."

Aiden seemed grateful for the change, and he laughed a bit.

"You weren't horrible. Not good. Not horrible," Aiden laughed, and I nudged him.

"Shut up."

"You brought it up," he teased.

"Well, you weren't exactly great at driving," I laughed, remembering closing my eyes tight and holding onto my seatbelt as he sped through Charleston.

"You are right. I am amazing," Aiden flashed a happy smile.

"Sure, amazing is exactly what I was about to say," I patted Aiden's arm teasingly.

"That also makes me a mind reader," Aiden smirked. I hadn't seen him in such a good mood in a long time, and I didn't want it to end.

"That I'm sure you are," I laughed.

"You're suddenly in a good mood," he nudged me, and I looked back to him.

"What do you mean?" I laughed, "You've been the one in the bad mood."

"No, you've been so sad," Aiden shrugged, his teasing mood beginning to fade, "Or maybe you've just been mad at me. You haven't really spoken to me in days."

"I haven't been mad at you," I shook my head, "I've just been… a bit screwed up," I admitted.

He nodded with a small smile, "Who isn't?"

I smiled wider.

"Thanks for coming on all of this," I smiled, "I know we kind of ripped you away from your vacation with your dad."

"Oh, it was getting awkward with him coming home with girls just about every night. No problem with you taking away," Aiden laughed, and I smiled.

"So, what were you doing there? I mean, why did you guys both decide to go on a vacation together?" I asked, looking at Aiden.

"Well, um, I'm closer to my dad than most demigods are to their godly parents. I guess, because I am high up in the Roman military, he took more notice of me. And, well, with me and Swift. Really, it was because of her, I think. Apollo really loved her mother. She was the daughter of a politician who fell for Apollo, got pregnant with his baby, and was sent abroad to conceal the pregnancy and have the kid. Since Swift was an orphan and the daughter of the woman he loved, he just took care of her. When I came in the picture, he decided to be there for me, too," Aiden shrugged, smiling weakly.

"I didn't know that Swift was an orphan," I managed.

"She was supposed to be adopted," Aiden shrugged, ruffling his hair, "But monsters found her blood and showed up. Her mother was already sent back to DC, and Swift went to an orphanage for a little while before Lupa found her."

I began to think back to Swift's cold exterior.

I couldn't imagine what I would be without my family. I didn't know who I'd be if my dad hadn't been there to rock me to sleep after every nightmare. Or if my mom hadn't been there to help me with homework and school drama. Or if Grandma hadn't been there to pile me up with new dresses and to teasingly say that I could move in with her as soon as I got tired of Noah. Or if Noah hadn't always been there to protect me, even if I didn't want it.

"I was always really her only family," Aiden continued, "She didn't want anyone else. Well, except for my grandfather. She loves him, too. Everyone does. He adopted her when she was sixteen, though she had been living with us before that. Swift was a bit closed off to him adopting her, but she let him eventually."

"Your grandfather?" I asked, "You live with your grandfather?"

Aiden stopped, looking up at me as he realized his mistake.

Aiden had never told me anything about his family. He always dodged my questions, changing the subject. I had never really pushed it. I just thought that he would tell me when he wanted to. And, before now, he had never wanted to.

"I have since I was nine months old," Aiden shrugged, not really looking at me now, "My mom was an actress, a pretty good one, too. When she was sixteen, they all moved to Hollywood for her career. When she was nineteen, she got the perfect offer that would skyrocket her fame. And, the day before she was about to take it, she got a positive pregnancy test. She turned it down, moved back in with her dad, and she decided that she would work on her career later. I was born, and everything was okay. My mom started working again when I was about eight months old, and she seemed pretty devoted to me. Then, when I was nine months old, she got a movie deal. She packed her bags, kissed us goodbye, and just left. I haven't seen her since I was four, when my grandfather got custody of me and moved us to New Rome. She didn't try to make any contact after…"

Aiden's voice trailed off, realizing how much he had said.

I was shocked, looking at him.

I wasn't sure what was shocking me more. All of the information needing to be processed at one time. Or the fact that he actually told me all of it.

Aiden didn't really tell anyone anything. Ever…

And now he just told me everything.

"You never told me," I managed, looking at him, and his eyes looked back to me.

"I did now…." he ran his fingers through his hair, "Sorry for just telling you all that…"

I couldn't tell if he was blushing or not.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm just… I'm shocked you wanted to tell me, I guess," I shrugged.

He looked up at me again.

"You're my friend," he smiled softly, a bit nervously.

And I smiled.

"You, too," I nudged him.