Ella's point of view

My head tilted slightly to the side when he said this while my eyebrows raised. Instead of an answer he smiled sadly at me.

"Here is your food." The waitress said suddenly while placing two plates of food down in front of us. We thanked her and I watched as she left.

When I turned back to Hades he had already begun eating, so instead of asking him what he meant I picked up my own cutlery and began eating.

As we ate I could feel Hades looking at me, he tried to be subtle but he wasn't very good at it.

I glanced up, my eyebrows were raised and I couldn't help the slight smile on my face. "Is there something you need Hades?"

My eyes followed the pink colour that spread up his neck and onto his cheeks. I found it very amusing to watch the gruffy man before me turn pink with embarrassment. From the outside he looked like a solid brick wall but deep down he really was a soft little cuddly bear.

"Oh, um, I was wondering..." He drew his words out slightly while he looked down and scratched the back of his neck.

Was he nervous? That was something I never thought Hades would be, but I guess you learn something new about people everyday.

"Yes Hades."

"Well I was wondering if you would like to spend the day with me? We could get to know each other and do anything you would like." His eyes shone with hope as he waited for my response.

I was stunned. Out of all the things I thought he would ask, I definitely did not expect it to be a date.

Was it a date? My heart fluttered at the thought, while my brain butted in and stated that it was not a date but rather just two people getting to know one another.

"I would love to." I smiled back at him and watched as a large grin spread onto his face.

"We could maybe go on a walk to the park after breakfast, that is if you would like to." He replied, the grin still shone on his face.

"That sounds perfect."

For the rest of the morning we spent the day walking around the park and talking about the simplest of things. He told me about his childhood and his strained relationship with his father. He told me great tales of the adventures he had been on and told me about his mother, Rhea.

I on the other hand had much less exciting things to tell him about myself. I told him about my childhood, parents and sister, I told him about what it was like growing up with Camila and Davies as best friends, I told him about my passion for the English language and all kinds of different books.

It was around noon and we had settled under a large oak tree near a pond in the park. The large leaves provided an escape from the sun. It was there under the oak tree while Hades was telling me one of his stories that I realised he never once mentioned where he grew up or where he lived now.

Once he had finished telling me one of his stories I muttered the question that had been playing on my mind for the last fifteen minutes.

"Where did you grow up?" I asked casually. I didn't think it would have been an issue as he did say that we should get to know each other. However, when I got no reply back I decided to gaze at Hades.

He seemed conflicted, my eyebrow raised unintentionally as I watched him. He noticed my confusion and sighed.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"What do you mean?" I wondered aloud.

"I'm not from around here and my home is far away from here, very far." He muttered the last part almost to himself.

"When are you going back?" My mind suddenly forgot about asking him where he lived and instead was now preoccupied with the thought of him leaving.

"Its hard to say, it might be next week or next month. I have some business to take care of here and when I'm finished I will be heading back." He sounded pained but I didn't question him.

I looked over at Hades, admiring every detail that was him. He was leaning against the large trunk of the oak tree with his leg sprawled out on the ground in front of us. His soft dark hair fell around his face in wisps of curls. I watched carefully as his dark eyes glanced up towards the sky and how his hands lay out on the grass beneath us.

I suddenly had the urge to reach out to him, to place my hands in his and maybe feel the slow dance of sparks on my skin. So that is exactly what I did. I reached out my hand and took his in mine.

The sparks were the first thing I noticed,they were light and fluttered across my skin, the second thing was the way Hades stiffened under my touch.

I suddenly felt very foolish and retracted my hand, but before I got very far he suddenly moved and grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers together.

"I apologize," He started while staring closely at our hands, "I didn't mean to react like that I was just a little shocked."

"Its alright," I replied, "would you like to go get some ice-cream?"

"Sure, I found a great spot the other day." Hades said very happily.

"Alright then, lets go." I giggled at his eagerness.

We got up and dusted ourselves off, Hades took my hand in his and directed me towards the ice-cream shop.

The rest of the afternoon was spent giggling and arguing about ice-cream flavors. In the short time we spent together I learnt that Hades had five siblings, I learnt that he enjoyed his solitude like I did and that he loved nature.

Hades was currently walking me home and we had just reached my door.

"Ella I hope you don't mind, but could I use your bathroom?"

"Of course Hades, go ahead it's just down the hall." I opened the front door and pointed to a door down the hallway.

"Thank you, I'll be back now." He smiled, and quickly disappeared down the hallway.

While Hades was busy I decided to quickly grab some water from the kitchen. As I neared the island in the middle of the room I noticed an envelope that I clearly remember not being there when I left this morning.

Confused, I quickly picked up the envelope and turned it over. There was no return address or any writing on it. Thinking it might have been something Camila or Davies had left behind sometime I opened it up.

"To my dearest Ella, I am glad you have informed Hades about my little message. Don't get too comfortable I will be making an appearance very soon and this time I won't leave without you. Until we finally meet, your dearest Kronos."

I had reread the letter about three times before the threat behind it registered in my mind. I could feel the pounding in my chest and the slight ache in my head. I was shocked and felt my hands begin to shake.

The letter dropped to the floor and I watched it flutter down just as Hades rounded the corner. The smile on his face dropped when he noticed my distress.

He rushed to my side and held my face gently between his hands.

"What's wrong Ella?" He sounded frantic now.

I couldn't speak so instead I pointed to the envelope that lay undisturbed by my feet. Hades glanced at it cautiously before bending down and picking it up.

He read the paper carefully and within a second of finishing I heard the deafening sound of a growl rumble from deep within Hades' chest.

He turned towards me and pulled me into his chest, his arms found there way around me and pulled me closer. I was tucked away from harms way and in that moment I felt safe, safer than I had ever felt in my entire life.

I don't know how long we stood there, wrapped up in each others arms, my head was tucked under Hades' chin and I listened carefully to the steady drumming of his heart.

"Hades." I called out.

"Yes?" He replied gently.

"I'm scared, what does this all mean?" I felt his arms tighten around me.

"Don't worry Ella, he can't hurt you now that I am here." I could feel his hand rubbing soothing circles in my back and in a matter of minutes I had calmed down.

We pulled away after that and I gazed up at him. The way he looked at me in that moment had my heart fluttering.

No one had ever looked at me with the amount of love that seemed to pour out of Hades' eyes. I felt loved in that moment and for once my brain did not argue, for once my poor heart was left smiling.

"Stay with me." I begged slightly.

He smiled down at me, "I didn't plan on leaving."

It was now my turn to smile at him. Later we ordered a pizza and watched a movie together, as night fell I grew slightly uneasy at the thought of Kronos' threat but Hades was here and nothing would harm me.

Later that night we departed and went our ways, I had made up the guest room for him even though he insisted he was more than happy to stay on the couch.

I quickly got ready for bed and lay down beneath the covers. It was then, as my brain took in everything that had happened today, that I realised the feelings I felt for the man in the room next to mine was more than friends.

No, I liked him, a lot. I was shocked at how my heart had a place for a man I had just met, but there was something about Hades, something that felt like home.

..

Hey loves!

Here is an early update for you all! This chapter was a bit longer than the last and I really do hope you enjoyed it. Once again, thank you for all the love and support.

Things are starting to pick up here, but there is still a lot of questions to be answered. What is the prophercy that Hades was talking about a few chapters back? What will happen with Kronos? And finally, will Hades ever tell Ella the truth?

All these questions will be answered very soon and in the process we may even uncover a few more questions!