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"Hey, Perse!" Zeus came in and gripped her shoulder as a greeting.

"Please don't do that!" She frantically broke away from him right as Hades came to the foyer of his mansion to greet his brothers and Hera.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Persephone. I forgot about... that." Zeus apologized while rubbing the back of his neck.

He was referring to Apollo, of course.

She thought she was past this. "He can't hurt you, I swear for as long as I live that I will not let him even touch you, my love." Hades reassured her time and time again.

She felt better. Hades helped her grow, helped her move on and know that she was more than what she thought of herself. He was patient with her, and was careful and took note on whatever triggers she had. He did his absolute best to make sure that neither he nor anyone else set them off.

But... it's not exactly guaranteed that she'll never have one of her triggers set off.

The grabbing. This has been the most painful and difficult trigger to overcome.

Anytime anyone grabbed her arm, shoulder, anything... suddenly without warning, she would shut down. It was so hard and so painful. Mostly because even Hades' touch would actually just make it worse, so she just had to get through it with his verbal praises.

"There we go, just breathe in... 1, 2, 3, out 1, 2 ,3. Good, Kore, you're doing great, sweetness!"

She snapped back to reality right when Hades asked, "Kore? Hey, can I touch you?"

She was sure he said something before this, because Hera was already in the house beside Zeus and Poseidon. They were all a few feet behind Hades, looking worried and concerned for her.

"M-mhm..." she nodded, tentatively reaching for his hand.

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"M-mhm..." she muttered, and reached for his hand.

This absolutely broke Hades' heart. She was always so bright and cheerful, but ever since the incident, she's never been the same.

He still remembered those few weeks vividly. It was shocking news when he heard Persephone and Apollo were dating, and after he heard, he noticed changes in Persephone's behavior and appearance.

She would wear baggy sweatshirts over her long dress that flowed down to her ankles. She wouldn't speak to anyone, not even Hades, and would try to avoid interacting with her friends or coworkers. It went on for weeks, and every few days Hades would ask her if she was okay, and her response was the same every time: "I'm fine, just tired."

But it was until that one day when she came into work with long hair flowing down her back and covering about half of her face.

He obviously knew something was wrong, and when he finally got her to show him, he was absolutely furious-

No. Livid.

There were no words to describe the amount of hatred and rage he felt for Apollo in that moment.

It all slowly got better from there, Apollo got thrown into Tarturus, Helios had taken over his job as the new full-time sun god, and god of medicine. He was the first Titan to actually be set free, and work as a god.

Hades and Persephone had gotten into a relationship a few months after the incident with Apollo, and it really helped with Persephone's confidence and happiness. Hades has always given her praises, he had always been patient with her, and loved her no matter what.

He had been the key and really the only one that helped her find her self worth during her healing journey.

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Hades allowed Persephone to hold onto his hand for a few seconds before he gently squeezed back, and carefully pulled her into a hug. He made sure to leave a bit of room for her to easily get out if she wanted to.

Persephone let a breath out and buried her face into the crook of his neck. She breathed in the scent of his cologne and pulled him closer.

Hades got the hint, she was okay and felt better.

He gently pulled back and cradled her face with one hand. He still wanted to ask."You're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good now," she gave him a smile and looked over to Zeus, "sorry for overreacting, I know you were just trying to be friendly."

Zeus smiled at her, "Don't apologize, Persephone. I'm sorry for forgetting, I'll try and be more careful."

Hades gave Persephone a kiss to her forehead and whispered, "I love you, you did very well."

Persephone smiled and kissed his cheek, "Okay, lets have some dinner!"

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