The trek south took longer than Shane expected. When Noah had said they were almost there, he had imagined it would only take another hour or two. He had not expected to be walking for another six hours.

When he looked at the big picture, yeah, Noah was probably right. They had traveled across nearly the whole country. Compared to four and a half provinces, twenty kilometers wasn’t far at all.

Shane dropped to his knees next to a stream and cupped his hands in the water. They had clean drinking water with them, but Shane was sweaty from walking, and he wasn’t going to waste drinking water to cool off. Now he could splash the stream’s water on his face and neck.

He found himself staring into the water. There wasn’t enough sunlight here for it to give off a reflection, but he didn’t need it too. He could picture his own face looking back at him just fine. It was a face he had taken great care to keep flawless.

“You only look like that because of your mother.” He muttered to himself.

He sat back and stared into the woods around him. What had his looks ever even gotten him? Now that he thought about it, not much. Just a job where he was little more than an object and school friends so shallow he had all but forgotten them.

“Aphrodite’s gift.” Shane snorted.

His eyes fell to his sword. He had the means to get rid of his mother’s ‘gift’. If he just ran the sword along his cheek, he could probably leave a scar. Then he would be able to see what he was capable of in life. Just him, no godly influence.

He drew the sword.

“Shane?”

Something splashed in the stream and Shane looked up. Noah stumbled toward him, shaking water off a foot he had placed in the water. He took another step and grimaced when his shoe made a squelching sound.

Shane quickly put his sword away and stood up. “I’m here.” He moved to meet Noah.

Noah smiled gratefully. “We should keep going. We’re really close.”

“Yeah.” Shane sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Noah raised a hand and placed it against Shane’s cheek. Shane immediately flinched away. “Sorry.” Noah drew his hand back. “I should have asked first.”

“No.” Shane shook his head. “It’s not that. I just…”

Before he could stop himself, Shane told Noah what he had been thinking. He explained how he had used his looks in life, and how he hadn’t thought anything of it until learning who his mother was. He even admitted his intentions back when they first met.

Noah stayed silent until he was finished. Then he reached out and wrapped his arms around Shane. “I want to help.” He whispered.

Shane relaxed into the hug. He hadn’t realized how tense he was, or how much he just needed to feel close to someone. “You already are.” He sighed, placing a hand on Noah’s head. His hair was soft, and Shane buried his fingers in it.

“What if…” Noah trailed off.

“What if what?”

“What if beauty isn’t what you got from your mom?”

Shane barked a laugh. “Yeah, the goddess of beauty just happened to have an attractive kid. Totally by accident.”

“Hear me out.” Noah stepped back. “The gods have multiple domains. Avery and I got different things from our dad.”

Shane nodded. He could still see Avery excitedly telling them about Apollo and archery.

“Aphrodite is the goddess of love too, isn’t she?” Noah prompted.

Shane felt uncomfortable. Something about Noah talking to him about love made him nervous.

“Maybe you attract people because you have a big heart, not because you look good.”

Shane shrugged. “Interesting theory.”

“Hey, I like you, and I can’t see you.”

Shane wanted to make a retort, but his mouth had suddenly gone dry. Noah liked him? Obviously, he meant it in a general way, not what Shane immediately thought of.

He swallowed hard. “Thanks.” He managed to croak out.

Noah grinned. “Don’t mention--”

He was cut off by a crashing sound.

“Monster!” They heard Avery scream.